The Story of Ruby Brown
by xMiaCarax
Summary: First part of the 'The Dead Girl's Demise' Series. It has been eight years since Ruby's sister Amber has been declared missing after going on a trip to Volterra in the summer holidays. Her parents have accepted the fact that she is dead, but Ruby has a feeling she is alive. What happens when Ruby spontaneously gives up everything to receive a chance to see her sister?
1. Chapter 1: Just Another Day

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Twilight or its characters, Stephenie Meyer does. I do own the characters Ruby and Amber Brown, their parents, Phoebe Evans, Marlena, Alexis, Louïs, Mr Devinton and the Volturi secretaries Noëmi and Adrianna.

* * *

Chapter 1 - Just Another Day

**Ruby's POV**

It was a last period on Friday and my class' attention span had reached a new low. While my history teacher, a conservative man in his mid-fifties, Mr. Devinton, desperately tried to explain the details of the treaty of Versailles to us, chaos was all around me. Paper planes polluted the thick air, and some of the popular girls were shooting selfies at the back of room. The boys tried to act all cool, leaned back in their chairs and listened to rap on their five-hundred-dollar phones. All in all, a day just like all its previous ones.

Except it wasn't.

Yes, it was Friday, and it was not exactly the surprise of the century that nobody was paying attention. Not that anybody ever payed attention in history except of me, but you know. Today was not just any friday. Today was the last friday of the school year.

"Kids! Kids! Would you please listen just one last time-" Mr Devinton began, but he was interrupted when Louïs threw a paper plane at him.

"Nobody cares about what happened three hundred years ago, old man!" Louïs yelled across the room and Marlena and Alexis exchanged their duck faces for full-face grins. Laughter errupted from all sides of the classroom and I rested my head on the once white plastic table, staring out of the window in an attempt to tune out.

Mr Devinton, astonished as he was at Louïs' spontaneous outburst, quickly caught himself again and tried to somehow carry on with the lesson. "Now, can anybody tell me what countries lost World War I?"

"You deaf or something?" Marlena added. "Louïs already told you that nobody here gives a fuck about what happened some centuries ago! Ever heard about living in the present?"

I turned my gaze back to the classroom. Mr Devinton was shooting Marlena an incredulous look, but she did not seem to mind in the least.

"Young lady, watch your language. And your attitude. Another outburst like this and I will send you to the principal's office. Same applies to you, Louïs."

"Whoo, whooo, old man. What are you gonna do about it? I'm just telling the truth, that's it, and you're umcomfortable with it." Alexis and Louïs were giving her approving nodds. "Who cares about some shitty treaty? Only thing I care about is the holidays."

Enough.

"Excuse me," I said in the most polite tone of voice I could manage. "But I wish to make a few corrections to your statement. First of all, only because you do not give a fuck about history, it does not mean that others don't, either. And it's hardly his fault if you're lacking empathy, is it?" Marlena's jaw dropped. "For the record, I care about the 'shitty' treaty of Versailles, you know. Oh, and Louïs" I added, eyeing the blond, brown eyed boy. "The treaty was not signed three hundred years ago, but in 1919. So how many years was that ago?" He stared at me with dead eyes. I swear, if a fly would have flown into his mouth, he would not have noticed. "Thought you wouldn't know. Not the best in Mathematics, are we? 95 years ago. Think a little before you open your mouth the next time."

Silence.

"Who do you think you are, bitch?" Alexis broke the silence. "You're dead."

Just as I was about to give her some sarcastic reply, the gong went off and Marlena and her gang hastily packed their supplies into their Louis Vuitton Bags. Long ago had I given up asking myself the question why anybody would ever buy their teenager a three thousand dollar bag. I mean, that was as much as my parents earned in a month!

Marlena, Alexis and Louïs left the room first, and everybody else followed after them. Like wolves following their alphas, I thought and a smiled emerged my lips at the fitting comparison. Just as I was about to leave, too, the voice of my history teacher called me back.

"Ruby, is it?" I turned around and nodded.

"Ruby Jasmyne Brown."

"Thank you, Ruby" he told me and smiled. "I know how hard it is at your age to stand up against the popular kiddos."

"Don't worry about it." I replied. "It's not like I've got a reputation to lose, anyway. I've just been the weird outsider girl here for as long as I can remember."

"I'm sorry 'bout that."

I rolled my eyes. "Why do people always say they are sorry? It's hardly your fault, is it?"

He shook his head.

"I don't mind, anyway. It's not like I'd want to be friends with Alexis or Marlena."

Mr Devinton nodded sympathetically. "Just tell me one thing before I let you go into the last weekend before the holidays. Why?"

Why? Question of my life.

I shrugged. "Because I can't stand their unlogicalness, I guess." I grabbed my backpack. "Can I go now?"

"Of course. And have some nice holidays." He told me politely.

"Thank you" I said and closed the door behind me.

_**Ten Minutes Later...**_

I reached my room without running into any of the three people that were currently ruining my life. Thank God, I thought as I let myself fall onto my iron boarding school bed. God knew where they were at the moment, but once they were finished doing what they were doing, the real terror would begin.

You see, by some twisted trick of fate, my home room teacher, Ms Witt, had suggested that none other than the devil herself, Marlena Canterbury, should share a room with me the past school year. Why? I did not know to this day, with only three more days of the year to go, including today. All I knew was that with that suggestion, Ms Witt had irreparably changed my life for the worse. Marlena, Alexis and Louïs had made it their goal for the year to terrorize my life as much as possible. And it didn't exactly make things better that I could not do a single thing, even in my own room, without Marlena's evil comments.

Why, you may ask yourself, was I worthy of being their victim? What qualified me for that position? It was more often than usual, lately, that I replayed the memory that had changed my entire life for the worse. It had taken place over eight years ago, now, but I still remembered every little detail, every little sound. As if it was burned permanently into my mind.

* * *

_I heard my sister take a deep breath. What was that for?, I wondered. _

_"Ruby, I..." she began, but she suddenly fell silent when there was a knocking sound in the background. _

_"Just a minute!" Amber yelled, her head turning away from the phone. I could barely hear her. "Now Ruby, I was going to say that-"_

_ But she did not come any further. There was a loud, sudden sound, comparable to that of a door being kicked open. Everything went very quickly from then._

_ "Fuck" she whispered, and I grinned, imagining how Mom would scould her if she heard this. "Ruby, I love you" she said, a tone of the utmost desperation in her voice. The grin faded immediately. Then the phone flew through the air, and, from the sound, crashed into a wall. Hard. I backed away for a second. The sound hurt my ears. _

_It was then, and eventhough the phone was no longer next to my ear, that the horrified scream of my beloved sister sent me into a state of panick and fear. It was like my most shocking nightmare had come true; only much, much worse. My sister was screaming in terror and I could not help her. In a dream, I could at least wake up. But this - this was reality._

_ "No! NO! AMBER!" I screamed into the phone, tears streaming down my face. "Amber!" _

_A few seconds after the screams had started, they died down. Was she...? No. It simply could not be. I heard the faint sound of a door opening, then closing in the background. I let out a sob. They're gone. She's gone._

_But I was mistaken. _

_A deep, husky-like voice pulled me from my thoughts._

_ "Your sister" it said, with a sadistic tone to it, seemingly enjoying every word and the damage it was doing. "is as good as dead. Forget her. This conversation never happened." Then the line went dead and I was left on the floor, sobbing. _

* * *

When I had told my parents, they laughed at me. They thought I was telling them a story. I yelled at them, tears streaming down my face, insisting I had told the truth. But they did not believe me. And they did not to this day.

There had been no proof for my version of events. The unknown number that had called me had not been saved to my phone, by some weird coincidence. To Mom and Dad, this had only been proof that I had been lying. But I, I knew I had told the truth. It had just been too real for it to be a dream. Even if the evidence was against me.

We had flown to Volterra the same day, the place were Amber had been scheduled to stay at with her friend, Phoebe, who had been found murdered in the forest two days earlier, and the tour guide. When we arrived, the tour guide was missing and nobody claimed to have seen an Amber Brown. Even the receptionist at the only hotel of the little Italian village had told us she had never seen her.

We had returned home empty-handed and Amber had been declared missing. Even then, Mom and Dad thought what I had told them was nothing more than an attempt to gain their attention.

I had changed after it had happened. For instance, I had become a vegetarian. Everybody I told the reason for this laughed at me, but... everytime I saw the meat lying on my plate, I heard my sister's desperate scream in my head. No matter how hard I tried - it was hindering me. But even more important, I had grown not to trust people. I told myself that people were just like Amber or my parents; eventually, they would either leave or misunderstand me.

As a result of this philosophy, I did not even bother to talk to anybody. After all, all they would do was hurt me, not? Eventually, my parents worried enough to send me to a psychiatrist. I did not talk to her, too. She had long, ginger curls and wore a pair of brown horn glasses. Her name had been Dr. Rosenthal. Dr. Rosenthal convinced my parents that I had schizoid personality disorder and was simply not programmed to socialize. But I knew better.

Sometimes, when I had enough of Dr. Rosenthal's diagnosis and its consequences, I talked to Mom and Dad, insisting there had been a call and that I wanted to talk to the police. Two years after the incident, they had enough of my begging and send me to the police station. The chief had listened to my statement silently, nodding at intervals. But when I had finished, he had asked the same question as my parents: _Are you sure this really happened, Ruby Brown? _

He did not believe me, either.

Nobody ever believed me. Four years ago, at ten, my parents sent me away to the same boarding school they had sent my sister to: Southham Grammar School, a little boarding school a few kilometers south of London. The kids were fine, but I had not even tried to gain friends. All that mattered to me -now and then- was my sister, and what had happened to her.

Two years ago, puberty hit and my classmates started to get all hormonal and mean. In the summer holidays, I found Amber's diary in a drawer in her room. I secretly took it to school with me, knowing Mom would not approve. All these years, Mom has been quite the pessimist. The police has told us that we should not give up hope, that they were looking for her. After one year, though, Mom told us Amber was most likely dead, and we should get accustomed to the fact. Dad got accustomed to it just fine.

I never did.

Back at school, I read her diary and found how she was very like me, concerning her way of thinking and reacting to different situations. She was, too, logical, witty, but also shy and unpopular. And she had a friend - Phoebe Evans.

I never had a friend.

Over the lonely days I spent reading her diary, I told myself that she was my friend. Amber was just so alike me... and one day I would find her. She just could not be dead.

At that time, Alexis, Marlena and Louïs started bullying me because I was an outcast. I tried to ignore them - and at that time, I managed. But at times, when things got worse, I filled the empty back pages of my sister's diary with my own problems. In a way, it was like I was talking directly to her, and it really helped me.

Then, at the beginning of this school year, I ran out of room and, when Marlena was at volleyball practice with Alexis, sat myself infront of the window of my room, lit up a candle and stared out into the dark while talking to my sister. My days were hell; but when I got to 'talk' with Amber in the afternoons, I was at peace.

Only that that peace did not last forever. One day, volleyball practice was cancelled and Marlena and Alexis walked in on me. From that moment on, I was not known as Ruby anymore; I was now known as 'the dead girl', for talking to somebody who has probably already dead from all my classmates knew. For convenience, they shortened 'the dead girl' to 'dead girl', or simply 'DG'.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is me: the girl that is so isolated, weird and dead on the inside that she is known as the dead girl.

And this was just another day in my sad, little life.

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_Please leave a review! This chapter is dedicated to Wersa12345, my best friend on here. You rock!_


	2. Chapter 2: Dead Girl

**Disclaimer**: Twilight and its characters belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I, on the other hand, own the characters Amber Brown, Ruby Brown, Mr and Ms Brown, Marlena, Alexis, Louïs and the Volturi secretaries Noëmi and Adrianna, and the plot.

**Thank you for the new follows/favs**: smancypants, FallenAshe, eternaldance22, lalasagwania, dizprincess77, Shaebea

**Thank you for reviewing**: dizprincess77, Wersa12345

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Chapter 2 - Dead Girl

**Ruby's POV**

_3rd of July 2006 _

_Dear Diary, today, I think, was the worst day I have ever had the misfortune to spend. Apart from the fact that, as usual, my classmates are acting irrationally child-like and stupid, and the fact that Nora's coke miraculously made its way onto my creative writing assignment for English, which I have spent countless hours on, without anybody actually pouring it on (because, you know. They actually think that I am naïve enough to think they're all just so innocent (and if you did not notice, that first bit there was sarcastic)), today was not just any day, but my birthday. And not a single person congratulated me._

_ I don't know what I expected, though, really. All the kids here either despise or ignore me, and none of the teachers are organised enough to think of that sort of thing. Of course, Mom and Dad gave me a call. And Ruby sent me a bracelet she bought for me. But they don't count, do they? They are my family, they congratulate me because they have to. _

_I want somebody who does that without having to. I want somebody that gives me a present and hugs me and says 'Happy Birthday! I'm happy you're alive!'_

_I need to go now. I have choir in half an hour and I still need to call Phoebe. She hasn't called me yet - has even she forgotten me?_

_ A._

* * *

_4th of July 2006 _

_Dear Diary, _

_Did Edgar Allan Poe have premonitions? What a random thought. Normally, I would just laugh at hearing such a thing. But today... in English, Ms Padington gave us a list of poems we were supposed to read, and one of these, "Alone" - it's me. A perfect description of my life, really. _

_I've read it over fourty times by now, and I know it by heart. Still, for the case that one day I shall forget the lines of that marvellous piece of poetry, I will copy it into this diary. After all, that is what a diary is, is it not? A book about the person that writes it. And this poem... it is me. _

_From childhood's hour I have not been _

_As others were; I have not seen _

_As others saw; I could not bring _

_My passions from a common spring. _

_From the same source I have not taken _

_My sorrow; I could not awaken _

_My heart to joy at the same tone; _

_And all I loved, I loved alone. _

_Then- in my childhood, in the dawn _

_Of a most stormy life- was drawn _

_From every depth of good and ill _

_The mystery which binds me still: _

_From the torrent, or the fountain,_

_ From the red cliff of the mountain, _

_From the sun that round me rolled _

_In its autumn tint of gold, _

_From the lightning in the sky _

_As it passed me flying by, _

_From the thunder and the storm, _

_And the cloud that took the form (When the rest of Heaven was blue) _

_Of a demon in my view. _

_Okay... just to clarify, I do not see demons. Maybe I will, one day, when madness takes me. But for now, I will just take it as a symbol... for what, I do not know yet. However, I am perfectly sure that life will have something in store for me, one day, that will serve as a perfect 'demon' to me. I shall give you more details on that when it comes to it._

_ A._

* * *

If only she would have known how right she had been. Looking back, of course, it all made perfect sense: while in Italy, her demon had found her. Who that demon was, how he had found her, why he had found her and if it was actually a supernatural creature, like the poem was indicating, I did not know. All I knew was that he had come for her. And I, I had heard her screams, heard her desperation.

I was pulled from my thoughts on the tragic irony of life when I heard the door open. I panicked - this could mean one thing, and one thing only: the devil had returned. I quickly hid Amber's diary under the covers of my bed, well aware that Marlena would use every opportunity she could find to rub her opinion on my sister's situation under my nose: that she was dead. I then grabbed a magazine from my nightstand, opened it up to a random page and pretended to be reading.

"Well, well, well, if that isn't dead girl herself" Alexis said, and I heard Marlena laugh next to her. I looked up. Both of them were wearing the short blue paisley skirt and white cotton blouse we had to wear as school uniform and a pair of simple black ballerinas. Surely they'd been as much as my entire wardrobe, I thought.

Marlena's head was shaking while laughing and her long brunette curls were moving along, like waves. I sighed, trying to think of some kind reply to give them. I chose the polite way.

"Hi, Alexis. Hi, Marlena."

"Hi, dead girl" Marlena said, and this time both of them laughed. It hurt my ears, this high-pitched, girlish, totally and utterly fake laugh they shared.

"Can I help you somehow...?" I trailed off, hoping to finish the conversation as quickly as possible. "Because otherwise, I'd like to get on with my reading."

"Oh, of course" Alexis said. "You'd like to continue reading. Can we get you some coffee, professor?" They laughed again, and I did my very best to ignore it.

I picked up the magazine from my lap and analyzed its contents. As I found out, it was a copy of _Psychology Today_. Perfect. The perfect magazine to be made fun of.

"No thank you" I said, eventhough the question clearly had been rhetorical. They shot me an incredulous look before Marlena finally broke the awkward silence that followed.

"Anyway" she said. "Alexis and I need to get our stuff for volleyball practice. Just continue reading your pathetic little magazine if you're oh-so-desperate to avoid our company, professor."

I nodded. "Thank you" I said quietly, glad they had found a nickname a little more nice-sounding than dead girl for me. Truth be told, I wasn't very interested in psychology, and the magazine had only found its way onto my nightstand because I had considered taking the subject as an IGSCE course a few months ago. But now, the magazine was my key to get out of this situation fairly unharmed. So I guessed I should play my part.

Dutifully, I cast my gaze onto the page, only to find an article on...

...schizoid personality disorder. Because, you know. I would have gotten out of this way too easily otherwise.

I wanted to sigh, but I held it in and started reading instead. _"...Schizoid personality disorder is a pattern of indifference to social relationships, with a limited range of emotional expression and experience. The disorder manifests itself by early adulthood through social and emotional detachments that-" _

"So did you notice how desperate Devinton was in class today?" Alexis said as they walked over to Marlena's closet, which was located on the right of her bed and had the green-greyish color of asparagus.

"Yes!" Marlena exclaimed. "He just keeps getting more and more pathetic!"

Keep calm, Ruby, keep calm. Just ignore them.

"..._prevent people from having close relationships. People with it are able to function in everyday life, but will not develop meaningful relationships with others. They are typically loners and may be prone to excessive daydreaming. They may do well at solitary jobs others would find intolerable._"

"... the way he just yelled at us, all like Please, kids! Let's get on with the lesson now!" Marlena laughed at that, again, and I wondered why. Alexis' imitation had been terrible.

"I know, right? But you know what was even more pathetic?"

Nope, and I don't want to know, either.

"_There is evidence indicating the disorder may be the start of schizophrenia, or just a very mild form of it. People with schizoid personality disorder are in touch with reality unless they develop schizophrenia._"

Oh, there it was. The reason why my parents and Dr. Rosenthal thought I was some kind of a born-to-be outsider.

* * *

_I was sat on Dr. Rosenthal's brown leather therapy couch, Mom next to me, when my therapist finally came in after exactly fourteen minutes and two seconds of me and my mother waiting in silence for her arrival. _

_"Ms Brown, Ruby" she greeted us and gave us one of her fake, polite smiles._

_ "I think I may have found the reason Ruby has been acting strangely lately." She said, turning to Mom. _

_Mom sighed in relief. "Oh, thank God. What is it?" _

_Dr. Rosenthal sat down on a sand-colored chair and hastily went through the pages of her Moleskine notebook before finally finding what she had been looking for._

_ "I have reason to believe that your daughter has schizoid personality disorder." She said in a calm and soothing tone, the kind of tone police officers used on TV when informing the relatives of a victim that said victim was dead. _

_"'Your daughter' has a name, you know" I added sarcasticaly. They ignored me. _

_"And what does that mean?" Mom inquired. _

_"Schizoid personality disorder is, to say it bluntly, when people have asocial tendencies. For instance, their expressions sometimes lack emotions, and they typically are loners. People with schizoid personality disorder tend to prefer their own company to that of others. Also, they tend to see life in a very realist kind of way." Dr. Rosenthal took off her brown horn reading glasses, shooting Mom an apologetic look, as if saying 'Don't shoot the messenger, Ms Brown. It's not my fault your daughter is a psycho.'_

_ "And... and why do you think that Ruby has this disorder?" Mom asked. _

_"Well, Ms Brown, I have noticed that Ruby tends to not talk to anybody, neither to me, nor to you, nor to your husband. Also, people with this disorder often have schizophrenia, too." She explained. "Which would explain why Ruby heard her sister eventhough there was no real call." _

_I rolled my eyes in reply. "Would you please stop talking about me as if I wasn't here?" I hissed. "And for the last time, there was a real call. And I am definetely not a schizophrenic! Nor have I got some kind of personality disorder because I don't want to talk to the people that do nothing but misunderstand me! Is that really so hard to understand?!" _

* * *

Quite obviously, it was. And from that day on, I was not only officialy asocial, but I also apparently heard the voice of my dead sister in my head.

Amber. Was. Not. Dead!

Why was that hard so hard for others to understand?

Marlena and Alexis had reached the closet by now. "Hm, something even more pathetic than Devinton? Tough call. Wait. How about..." Alexis turned around to face me, an evil smile forming on her lips. "...DG?"

Keep reading, Ruby, keep reading. Don't listen to her. She only misunderstands you, like everybody else.

"Yes" Marlena confirmed. "That was exactly what I was thinking. Remember that performance? Excuse me, but I wish to make a few corrections to your statement. Boohoo, I'm so scared!"

Damn it, Ruby! I said don't listen to her!

"How many years ago was the treaty of Versailles signed, Louïs?"

"It's hardly his fault if you're lacking empathy, is it, Marlena?"

"For the record, I care about the treaty of Versailles!"

Enough, enough, enough! Shut up already!

"But of course DG cares about the treaty of Versailles. It's obvious, isn't it?" Alexis said, a vicious look in her eyes.

Oh, crawl into a pit in the ground and die!

"Dead people take interest in what other dead people did. Simple as that, right?"

Just tune off, for God's sake! They are not worth it!

Marlena grinned. "Shame she can't just accept what she is. It would be just so much easier to talk to her dead sister then, would it not be?"

Mock me, I'll suffer silently. Mock my missing sister, I'll make you suffer.

"Enough!" I yelled and threw the magazine away from me. To my never ending surprise and happiness, it landed straight in Marlena Canterbury's face.

"What the fuck is your problem?" She screamed at me, and I could see the fury in her eyes. "I'll have to re-do my hair now!"

Without commenting the situation any further, I walked up to her and spat her in the face, right between the eyes. I knew I'd have to flee for good now, but I just could not resist the temptation and showed Alexis, who had a perplexed look on her face, my middle finger in all its glory while sticking my tongue out.

Then, I threw the door open and ran.

I ran and ran, not really caring about where to. I wanted one thing and one thing only - for them to never find me. Left, right, left. The corridors turned into random directions, and I followed them. Even when I lost track of where I actually was, I kept running. I continued until I could not bear the pain in my chest any longer.

I turned around to see if they had followed me. To my relief, they were nowhere to be seen - or heard. I let out a breath I had not noticed I was holding and walked away, feeling like a criminal who had outrun the police.

BOOM!

"What the fuck was that?" I heard an all-too-familiar voice ask and instantly wished I had just stayed in the room with Marlena and Alexis.

Louïs.

He slowly turned around, grinning wickedly when he recognized me.

"Why, hello there, dead girl."

"H-hello L-Louïs" I stuttered.

"Tell me, ugly, did you just run the hell into me?"

I did not answer. He waited a few seconds, then suddenly, and without warning, his fist hit my face. Hard. Me being me, dead girl, who, above all her other problems and issues, had a ridiculously low pain threshold, I fell to the stone floor of the corridor, crying out loud. Louïs being, well, Louïs, a stupid prick, merely laughed and repeated his question.

"I said, Did you just run into me, DG?"

I nodded.

"Pathetic." He shook his head. "I knew you were ugly, stupid and slow, dead girl, but I would have at least thought you'd control over your body."

What was I to answer to that?

"Do us all a favor, dead girl" he continued. "And stop acting like a child in denial. Your sister has been missing for eight fucking years. Face it: she's dead."

I shook my head fervently. "No" I told him, standing up. "She's alive. I know it. Amber is alive."

"No." He replied, smirking. "She is dead and you should get used to the fact."

"No!" I yelled at him. "She is alive! How many times do I have to say that-" I did not come any further as his fist made contact with my nose, and I was on the floor again.

"Stop punching me!" I begged.

"You stop telling me your sister is alive."

"But she is!"

He sighed. "Go ahead, then. Keep your sis some company." Louïs turned away from me. Hallelujah for that!

"Kill yourself! You'd do everybody a major favor, including yourself, dead girl walking."

Before I had the chance to reply, he was gone, and I was left behind on the cold stone floor in an area of the school I had no orientation around, crying my eyes out.

* * *

_Please review! This chapter is dedicated to dizprincess77 for being my first reviewer. Thank you!_


	3. Chapter 3: Misunderstood

**Disclaimer**: Twilight and its characters belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I, on the other hand, own the characters Amber Brown, Ruby Brown, Mr and Ms Brown, Marlena, Alexis, Louïs and the Volturi secretaries Noëmi and Adrianna, and the plot.

**Thank you for the new follows/favs**: Mari Wollsch, MarauderElm22151

**Thank you for reviewing**: Bona Drag, Guest, Wersa12345, dizprincess77

**THE STORY OF RUBY BROWN**  
Chapter 3 - Misunderstood

_by xMiaCarax_

**Ruby's POV**

I suffered silently for the rest of the weekend and let them have their way with me, knowing that the school year, and therefore my time with them, would be over on Monday. Time had passed slowly, and Marlena and Alexis had treated me just like always, and maybe even worse, as their days with me had been numbered. But today, after fourty-eight hours, my time had come.

It was Monday, the 25th of July 2014 and today was the last day of school.

Well, maybe 'school' was the wrong term. Today, until now at least, had been more of a _breakfast-then-assembly-and-the-principal-tells-us-how-great-this-year-has-been-and-then-we-go-back-to-homerooms-and-oh-no-I-am-going-to-miss-you-all-so-terribly_ kind of day. And I seriously doubted that we would have at least one more normal lesson today. After all, it was the last day of school, it was 11:27 AM and the year would be over in three minutes.

Finally.

Our homeroom teacher, a black-haired man in his twenties, Mr. Jeveen, was holding a speech about all the 'funny' incidents that had happened over the year at the front of the classroom, but I did not listen and stared into the void, my thoughts completely elsewhere as that time when Marlena, Alexis and Louïs dressed up as Neo, Trinity and Agent Smith from The Matrix, for whatever reason.

_Tick. Tock._ I gazed up at the clock, counting every single second I was still required to spend in this building. I had nothing against Southham Grammar - quite the contrary. It was a very fine school with beautiful art nouveau rooms with high ceilings, and the teachers were very skilled. It was the kids here that, to say it bluntly, sucked. Rich, bitchy kids that had no idea what real life was like but could give you the number of Rihanna's hair dresser from memory.

How I despised them.

"Then, too, remember the time that Ruby forgot to show up for the spring performance and everybody had to improvise because she didn't say her line?"

Why, thank you, Jeveen. I could have really done without people remembering that.

"Or when she showed up in her uniform on non-uniform day?"

_Stop it._

Everybody, of course (because how could it be otherwise?) were laughing hard about me by now, some even pointing their fingers at me. I looked back at the clock, trying to tune them out. Tick. Tock. Sixty-nine seconds left to go.

"Or how about..." Alexis added, smiling that fake, innocent smile of hers. "...when she read her pathetic's sisters diary and then 'talked' to her sister at night?"

Sixty-one seconds.

"Or when she studied day and night for that Algebra test and still got a D?" Louïs smirked.

Fifty-seven seconds.

"Or every pathetic day she is alive?" Marlena said in an all-innocent, angelic voice. "Her life is a freakin' joke."

Fifty seconds.

"Now, now, Marlena. Don't be mean to your classmate. This is supposed to be a fun time for everybody." Mr Jeveen intervened and the laughter immediately faded. Contrary to Mr Devinton, he had earned the respect of the class.

"We're not mean, Mr Jeveen" a girl I hardly knew with long, black hair and a nose ring replied. "We're merely telling the truth."

I looked at my feet and wanted to disappear into thin air. _If even a person that did not know me hated me, how pathetic must I be?_

Thirty-six seconds.

"Let me make this clear: no bullying in my classroom. Okay, then. I will pass out the envelopes with the report cards now" Jeveen tried to change the topic, sighing. "You will not open them before the bell rings. Understood?"

We nodded in unison.

"Good. When the bell rings, you are free to go. There are buses and cabs waiting outside of the school grounds to take you to a train station or home directly. Your baggage is in the corridors. Any questions?"

We shook our heads.

Twenty-two seconds.

As Mr Jeveen made his way through the rows and layed white paper envelopes on people's desks, he asked one last question. "Anything else somebody would like to share with his or her classmates?"

Numerous hands went up.

"Yes, Louïs?"

"Just one thing I'd like to say, really." He began, standing up as everybody turned around, facing him. "Go and jump off a cliff, Ruby."

Laughter filled the room as Mr Jeveen shook his head in disbelief. "What did I just say? No bullying her. _Capice_?"

Fifteen seconds.

Everybody nodded, again. _Oh, if it were that easy._ "Good. Anyone else? Marlena?"

Marlena, alike Louïs, stood up before she made her 'announcement'. "Nobody likes you, _dead girl._"

"Do I speak in Chinese or something?" Mr Jeveen commented. "I said no bullying Ruby!"

"I wasn't bullying Ruby, was I? I was bullying dead girl."

Nine seconds.

Mr Jeveen sighed. "Anything else that is _NOT_ about Ruby _or_ dead girl?"

Five seconds.

I gazed over to Louïs, Alexis and Marlena and saw them laughing at me.

_Oh, as if things could possibly get any worse._

"Yes, Mr. Jeveen" I replied, raising my head. "I would like to say something." I stood up, staring them in the eyes.

I did my best to imitate their innocent, fake smiles the way they had continuosly imitated me for years and years and said, in a most innocent and polite sounding voice: "I hope you rot in the deepest pits of hell, motherf*ckers."

_Tick. Tock. Tick._

That second, the bell rang.

The school year was over.

I was free, and I stared into their surprised, shocked faces.

_**Ten Minutes Later...**_

I smiled to myself in a pleased way as the cab pulled out of the school's driveway. No matter how bad my grades would be this year, no matter how bad things at home would be, no matter how much I missed my sister... at least I got to call Alexis, Marlena and Louïs a bad name infront of everybody. And nobody could take that from me now.

I felt a wave of pride radiate from me as I reached into my rucksack to pull out my cellphone, so I could listen to some music on the long ride from London to Kingsbridge. I grabbed something very thin, very smooth feeling of which I was not sure exactly what it was, hoping it was my LG. I pulled whatever _it_ was out of my rucksack and saw that it was the white envelope with my full name on it that Mr Jeveen had handed me.

My report card.

I shrugged and tore the envelope open, knowing I should take advantage of my good mood as long as I could. I pulled the paper out of the envelope and took a deep breath, closing my eyes. I opened them again after letting the darkness embrace me for just a few more seconds, taking a close look at the report card infront of me.

**SOUTHHAM GRAMMAR SCHOOL**  
End of Year Report Card

of

Ruby Jasmyne Brown

Grade Nine

English - C

French - B

Spanish - C

Economics - B

Algebra - D

Physics - D

Chemistry - C

Biology - D

Geography - C

History - A

Art - B

Music - B

Physical Education - D

Creative Writing - A

AVERAGE: 2,71

I sighed. _Well, at least you've still got a two comma something average. And you've got two A's! Isn't that something... considering you spent your entire freetime running from bullies and talking to Amber._

_**Five Hours Later...**_

As the black cab pulled into the driveway of the Brown Mansion, I saw my mother waiting outside for me, waving at the car with great zeal. _Where is Dad?_ I wondered, but quickly dismissed the thought. _He's probably still at work_. I payed the driver, got my suitcase from the back of the cab and walked towards Mom with an, admittedly, forced smile. But how could you smile honestly at a woman that had raised you but still did not believe you when you had told her a very important truth over eight years ago?

"Ruby" she greeted me. "It's nice to see you again."

I did not answer. Mom waited for my reply just a few seconds longer, then remembered that I almost never talked to her, and pulled me into a hug.

"Oh, how long has it been now? Seven long months, sweetheart." Mom produced a small gift from her purse. It was the size of a small book - and that was probably exactly what it was. "This is for you, Ruby. I saw it in the store the other day and thought of you."

I took the gift from her and examined the packaging - which was, strangely, completely black. _Why, she saw something black and thought of me? Oh, thanks so much Mom!_

"Let's go inside, shall we?" Mom hinted and I nodded. As she took my hand and I thought of an excuse to break free from her grasp, we walked through our front yard until we reached the white entrance door to the house - no, it was to big to be a house; to the villa. I looked up. It was build in the thirties, had three stories, white windows and brown brick walls. I had never liked it. It was just so... _pompous_. The kind of villa the people that haunted my sleep would murder to live in.

Mom opened the door and we entered. Everything was just like it had been when I had left seven months ago - the floor was polished mahogany wood, the furniture a perfect shade of white with vintage elements. To the right, there was the kitchen; to the left, the living room; and straight ahead, the white staircase which led up to the first floor. Several fake pictures of a happy family in pastel-colored picture frames littered the walls; Mom, Dad and me on my first day of school. Mom, Dad and me in Corsica. Mom, Dad and me on Mom and Dad's twentieth wedding anniversary. Mom, Dad and me on my fourteenth birthday. There was literally at least one picture of every vacation we had ever been on - all except one.

Volterra, Italy - July 2006. Mom, Dad and I had flown there to pick my sister up, and eventhough I had told my parents of the call I had gotten, they had not listened to me and did not even pay the town's police office a visit when they arrived. They had simply inquired where she was, received the answer that she had never been to Volterra and gone back home.

_'She_' of course being my sister Amber, who was not on a single one of these twenty or-so photographs. I understood that Mom and Dad did not wanted to be reminded of the fact that she was missing twenty-four hours a day, but... they could have put just _one_ picture to remind them that she still was their daughter and, more importantly, existed, couldn't they?

Mom directed me to go into the living room and make myself comfortable. I sat myself on the large cream couch and waited silently for her to come in with self-made cookies that, as usual, nobody would even touch. It was like an unofficial law.

As if on cue, just then Mom came in with the cookies, who were chocolate chip, on a silver tablet. After she positioned them carefully on the middle of the white couch table, she took a seat on the couch, directly next to me. I felt a little uncomfortable when she layed her arms around me and gave me a kiss on the forehead.

"So tell me, Ruby, how were the last seven months for you?"

I stared out of the window and stayed silent. _Don't say anything. She'll only misunderstand you, anyways._

Mom sighed. "Did you make any friends at school?"

There was a feline cat with beautiful, short grey fur sitting outside on our patio. I watched in awe as it stared directly at me for a few seconds with a gaze that said I know how you feel, and I wondered if I truly had just made a friend. Then, all of a sudden, my potential friend ran away and jumped over the fence into the Hutcherson's garden.

"Look" I said. "The Hutchersons have a new cat."

Mom gave me one of her _Ruby, please!_ glares and changed the topic. "Can I see your report card?"

I nodded and ran into the hall to get it from my rucksack. As I was about to zip the rucksack open, my gaze landed on a picture of me when I was a little child behind a large yellow pictureframe with a photo of Mom and Dad inside that was standing on a small, white armoire. I had never seen it before. I put the photo of Mom and Dad on the floor and examined the new picture closely, taking it into my hands. On it, there was a little Ruby of maybe four years, lying in her bed, laughing. All in all, exactly the kind of picture parents liked to keep standing around. I was about to go back to my mother when I saw who was singing me to sleep.

Amber.

Or at least I thought it was her. It was hard to say with the person's face literally cut out of the picture.

Tears pooled in my eyes as I repeated the same question over and over in my mind: _How could she do this?_

_How could she just go and cut her own flesh and blood out of pictures?_

"Ruby?" my mother's voice called from the living room. "Are you alright?"

I did not answer and instead opened my rucksack, taking the white envelope out and putting the picture in. I then wiped the tears from my eyes and entered the living room, where Mom was waiting for me.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice concerned. I did not answer, and without a word she took the envelope from my hands and ripped it open. As she pulled the piece of paper out, scanning it, her eyes went blank.

She then looked up at me, obviously disappointed.

"What happened?" she repeated, but this time it was not about my well-being. I wondered if she hated herself for how she reacted to Amber's absence as much as I did, and the picture of me and my sister came into my mind again. I wanted to scream at her, make her show regret for her reaction, but instead I decided to continue playing my little psychological game with her and simply not answer to any of her questions.

"Ruby" she said and looked me straight in the eyes. "Amber has been missing for eight years now. Why can't you just accept that she is dead? Why must you ruin your life like this?"

_Tune out, Ruby, don't listen. Tune her out like you tuned out all these others._

"Ruby, your sister was a great person. She would have never wanted you to behave like this and obsess over her disappearance."

"Yes" I replied. "You are right."

She shot me a relieved smile, sighing. "Oh, thank God. I thought you'd never understand."

"...you are right, Amber _is_ a great person" I continued, emphasizing the 'is'. "But she is not dead. And you- you are a lousy excuse of a mother. First you accept your daughter's death, just like that, as if it was a piece of cake, without any confirmation that she is actually _not_ alive, and then you blame your second daughter for believing that she _is_ alive. But no, that isn't everything! It oh-so-happens that that second daughter received a call from that first daughter with important information that you just ignore because you don't like it! Well guess what?! The bloody call _did_ happen, and Amber is alive. And _you_ tell me _I_ have a personality disorder and send me to a therapist and fricken wonder why I don't want to talk to you or can't concentrate in school!"

Mom's jaw dropped, just like Alexis, Marlena and Louïs' in the morning. _Great_, I thought. _Now I even compare my own mother to my bullies_.

Not looking back, I ran out of the living room and up the staircase, to my room. Or anywhere, in that matter. As long as I was not going to be in the same room as her.

_**Seven Hours Later...**_

It was exactly 11 PM and I was lying under the covers of my bed, staring out into the night and listening to _Imagine Dragons_ on my cellphone, as I could not sleep. Maybe, I thought, I should just stay awake. Mom had left me alone after I had yelled at her; thank God for that. I couldn't stand her presence anymore, everything about the woman made me want to scream.

I sighed as the last seconds of _The River_ played and erased all thoughts from my mind, entirely focusing on the new music that would begin to play shortly.

_Who knows how long  
I've been awake now?  
The shadows on my wall don't sleep  
They keep calling me, beckoning_

_Who knows what's right?  
The lines keep getting thinner  
My age has never made we wise  
But I keep pushing on and on and on and on_

_There's nothing left to say now  
There's nothing left to say now  
I'm giving up, giving up, giving up now  
I'm giving up, giving up, giving up now_

Giving up? Maybe that wasn't such a bad idea. Maybe Louïs had been right. Maybe I really would do everyone, including me, a massive favor. After all, what was I living for? No friends. No hobbies. Not even a loving family.  
Maybe I really _should_ end it all.

_There's nothing left to say now  
There's nothing left to say now  
I'm giving up, giving up, giving up now  
I'm giving up, giving up, giving up now_

_Below my soul  
I feel an engine  
Collapsing as it sees the pain  
If I could only shut it out_

There was a knock on the door and I put off my headphones, turning around. It was Mom.

"Can I come in?" she asked, and I merely nodded. She entered and sat herself next to me on the bed. As a response, I turned back into the direction of the window, showing her my back, hoping she would get the message.

She did not.

"Look, _sweetheart_-"

"I'm not your sweetheart." I hissed.

Mom sighed. "Fine. Ruby, I know you hate me, but we need to talk and I need you to listen to everything I tell you, okay?"

"Okay."

"Well... I'm sure you're asking yourself where your Dad is. Or do you hate him, too?"

"_Dad_ didn't send me to a therapist."

She sighed. "I only did that because-"

"Just get back to the point, please. Spare us this pointless argument we have had so often before."

"Okay." she agreed. "Well, I wanted to say that... ever since your sister has been missing, things between me and your father haven't been working out as well as before. And now, what with your disorder and his pay cuts... we have decided that it would be best to... _divorce_."

I turned around, and saw her looking at me expectantly.

"So?" I demanded, shrugging. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

"Aren't you... shocked? Or even surprised?"

I shook my head. "You know, it's not like I wasn't expecting it. It was pretty obvious."

She took a deep breath. "...okay."

"Eventhough" I started. "I would really like to know what you mean with 'what with your disorder'."

"Erm... isn't that kind of self-explanatory? Come on, Ruby. It's not a secret that at times, you're quite hard to handle. Because of your disorder, of course."

I shook my head, again. "No. I have no disorder. The call happened, for the twenty billionth time, and I just don't want talk to you because you don't understand me or even try to act like it."

She snapped. "Excuse me?"

"Come on, Mom. You know it's the truth." I said.

"It's not."

"I don't care if you deny it or not. It's the truth and I know it."

Awkward silence.

_God, how I hated those._

"Ruby, let me tell you something. Regardless if your sister is dead or not, she is gone. You, on the other hand, are here. Please, let's just not act like I'm the devil to you. You know, I love you. And it hurts me to see you this...broken."

A single tear emerged from my eye. _Could it be possible that she... actually meant this?_

"Look, forget about Amber. Live _your_ life while you can. Have fun. Spend some time with your old Mom. Or your Dad, if you'd like. So, what about it?"

_Well, I could give her one chance... just this once..._

"Fine" I agreed, and we hugged each other, smiling.

"I'm so happy you're seing sense, Ruby" she told me. "And about Amber... just do it like me. Don't think about it too much. We both know she is most likely dead, no matter how hard you try to deny it, and the fact that she was declared dead-"

"_WHAT_?!" I exclaimed, frozen in disbelief. _NO_! This could _NOT_ be happening! She was alive! _Amber. Was. Alive!_

"Oh. Did I not tell you? She was declared dead three months ago... or was it four? I think four..."

"You _bloody hell_ did not!" I yelled at her, annoyed at my sudden mood change. "How could you not tell me?! She can't be dead! Amber is not dead! Why did you do nothing against this? And _why didn't you call me_?!"

"Ruby, I-" she started.

"_NO_!" I cried. "I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses! First you're all _happy-family_, and then you, just like that, tell me my sister has been declared DEAD?! What the heck is wrong with you?!"

"I-"

"LEAVE!"

Mom nodded sadly, gave me another kiss and left, closing the door behind her.

**Author's Note**: Longest chapter yet! Hope you liked it! (I'm not really sure if I do...)

So, what did you think about Ruby's 'announcement'? What do you think her gift from her Mom is? Why did Ms Brown cut Amber's head out of the picture? And what do you think of her character in general? Does she seem authentic?

**Please** tell me what you think and **leave a review**! They are very much appreciated, positive or negative!

Oh, and by the way, sorry for the swearing. And the song she listens to is _Nothing Left to Say..._ by Imagine Dragons. Sorry about constantly adding songs and poems into the story, too.

Dedicated to my 258 visitors (and counting!). **Thank you for your support!**

- xMiaCarax


	4. Chapter 4: Hear Me

**Disclaimer**: Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I, on the other hand, own the characters Amber Brown, Ruby Brown, Mr and Ms Brown, Marlena, Alexis, Louïs and the Volturi secretaries Noëmi and Adrianna, and the plot.

**Thank you for reviewing**: FallenAshe, Wersa12345

* * *

**THE STORY OF RUBY BROWN**  
Chapter 4 - Hear Me

_by xMiaCarax_

**Ruby's POV**

I stayed up all night, listening to _Night Visions_ over and over again, rivers of tears streaming down my face as I looked at the picture of little me in bed and read in Amber's diary for consolation. How could Mom have been so cold-hearted? It was a mystery me, just like why she cut her daughter's head out of the picture. How could she have been so _I love you, Ruby_ in one second and then all _Let's stab Ruby with thousands of knives from behind_ the next?  
But then again, it was my fault, like it always was. After all, I had given her a chance, against my own philosophy, and by doing that I had made myself vulnerable. One moment of weakness - days and days of hurt to come.

My sister was _not_ dead, she simply could not be. It was as simple as that. I knew it seemed childish of me, but it could not be any different. I still remembered how we had played together in the garden, laughing, even if it had been over eight years ago. I still heard her scream from the other end of the line. And sometimes, at night, it was as if she was watching me sleep and singing me a lullaby, like she used to. Once, she had even sung her favorite song for me. I still heard her voice in my head.

_Take my hand and lead the way  
Out of the darkness and into the light of the day  
And take me somewhere I'll be safe  
And carry my lifeless body away from the pain_

_Cause I know what I've been missing  
And I know that I should try  
But there's hope in this admission  
And there's freedom in your eyes  
And we cry away_

Ironic, really. The soon-to-be missing girl singing her little sister to sleep with what will be the biggest dream in her life - finding her. If only I would have known what would await her in Italy... I could have saved her. But it was too late for that now, I thought and drifted off into sleep.

I was awoken by the sound of raindrops pattering on the window, and looked outside. It was raining heavily, and the sky was filled with dark gray clouds. I smiled as I saw Mom, soaking wet, running around in the garden, trying to save the magazines and books she had left there yesterday from the water, but in vain. Normally, I hated rain. After all, what did it do? It made you feel sad, that's what. And I was sad enough already. But today... today pathetic fallacy was on my side.

I stood up and got dressed. I knew Mom liked white or pastel colored girlish outfits, so I decided on a black armless hoody, old blue jeans and chucks. Maybe this time she would get the message. Adjusting my hair into a ponytail, I made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen. As I poured some milk onto my cereals, I watched Mom swearing in the garden. The ink was starting to drip off the pages of the books in her arms as she slipped and landed face-down in the mud. I continued eating my cereals as if nothing had happened. I could help her... then again, she didn't tell me my sister was declared dead - so why should I?

The kitchen door opened, and in came Mom, covered in mud and soaking wet. "Could you please get me a towel?" she asked. I remained seated.

Mom stared at me expactantly for a little while longer, then she turned around and headed for the bathroom. She came back two minutes later, when I was just putting the bowl into the dish washer. Her short hair was still greasy from the mud, and she was wearing a new set of clean, white clothing. I was about to head back to my room when she stopped me.

"Ruby" she begged. "Can we at least talk about this?"

I sighed. "What is there to talk about?"

"Well... look Ruby, I know you think that I'm the impersonation of the devil or something. But I want you to know that I love you and want only the best for. Please just _try_ to understand that."

"That's exactly what you told me yesterday."

"So?"

"Gets a little repetitive over time. I mean, you even used the same devil analogy. Just saying."

She sighed. "Well, maybe it is. It's still true and I wish you understood."

"Well, maybe I don't _want_ to understand." I argued.

"Ruby... just imagine this from my perspective. All I want is the best for you."

"And the best for me is if you keep the fact that my sister was declared dead from me?" I demanded. She shook her head.

"I told you, I did not keep it from you, I just forgot."

I shook my head. "I couldn't care less about why you didn't tell me, Mom. You didn't, that's what matters."

"You know, to me it seems like you don't even _try_ to understand me." She said accusingly.

"That's because I'm not." I admitted. "Why would I want to understand a woman that has been misunderstanding her own daughter for eight years now?"

"Ruby!" she cried. "That is not true! I am not misunderstanding your sister!"

"You misunderstood me again."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I wasn't talking about _Amber_. I was talking about _me_."

Mom burst out laughing. "Excuse me? I do not misunderstand you!"

"No, of course not!" I told her, a sarcastic tone in my voice. "You sent me to a therapist to find out '_what is wrong with me_' because you understand me so well!"

"That... that was just once." She defended herself. "Besides, the diagnosis must be right. You talk much more since you're taking your pills."

"Who's telling you I'm taking them?"

She gasped. "You're...not?"

"No" I repeated. "I bloody hell am not. Never have, never will."

She shook her head in disbelief. "You're handicapping yourself! Why would you do this to yourself?"

"Why would _you_ not even once in eight years consider that your second daughter has been telling the truth about that call if you understand her so well?"

Silence.

_Good_, I thought. _I've finally hit a nerve_.

She took a deep breath. "You know, Ruby, how about you spend the rest of the holidays at your dad's new home in Exeter? I can already tell we're not going to get along."

I gasped. "Do you want to get rid off me?"

"I told you" she replied. "I want what is best for you."

I turned away from her in disbelief, shaking my head. "I hate you."

"Is that a yes?"

_Anything to get away from you_. "Yes. Yes, that is a yes."

_**Thirty Minutes Later...**_

"_Last call for the train from Kingsbridge to Exeter_" a high-pitched, female voice announced from the loudspeakers, and Mom wrapped her arms around me, pulling me closer to her. An annoyed sound escaped my lips, and she immediately pulled away from me.

"Sorry. Guess I thought you'd like to hug your Mom one last time..." she trailed off, and I rolled my eyes.

"I'll need to get going now." I told her. She nodded.

"I love you" she said, kissing my left cheek.

"No" I shook my head. "I'm a disappointment to you, and both of us know that. You like me just as much as I like you."

"No! You're wrong. I love you just as much as I love your Dad and Amber. You're my special little girl, Ruby, and you'll always be."

"You love me as much as Dad and Amber?" I asked. She nodded. "You don't love Dad, now, do you? You just got a divorce, remember?"

"I love you, and I love your dad and sister." She repeated, but she sounded like she was struggling to make herself believe it. I grabbed my rucksack from Mom's hands and, without a word, pulled out the picture of me and my headless sister.

"You got a divorce from Dad, and you go around cutting my sister's head out off pictures. Now look me in the eyes and tell me you love them and that you love me as much as them." I ordered, her face freezing in recognizion as she saw the photo. She stared blankly at me, and stayed silent. I took a deep breath.

"I knew it." I put the image back into the blue rucksack, grabbed the rucksack, turned around and walked away from my mother and towards the train without looking back. I heard a faint cry as I entered;

_Open your present!_

I was not sure if I was actually hearing it or just imagining it. And if I was hearing it, who told me it was my mother?  
No. I was definetely imagining it.

_**Three Days Later...**_

_"Ruby!" he exclaimed as he embraced me, passengers entering and exiting the train behind us. "It's so good to see you again!"_

_"Erm... Hi, Dad" I replied shyly, not really sure what to answer. "So... how is life going without Mom?"_

_"Oh, it's fine, really. I have a lot more time for work on my hands now, so I got promoted. Which isn't too bad, is it?"_

_I chuckled. "Always the optimist."_

_"Of course" he said, letting me go of his grasp. "After all, life is bad enough already, isn't it? It's one of those things you must learn in your teenage years, Ruby - optimism. You'll never survive the real world otherwise."_

_"Dad, I am living in the real world."_

_"Or so you think."_

_I sighed. "So how long can I stay with you? Mom is driving me crazy."_

_"Hmm... I'm officially taking my holiday time for this, cherry, so maybe not too long. A week or so, maybe. How about two? To have a little father-daughter time?"_

_"That would be more than perfect, Dad." I smiled._

_"Let's go to your temporary home, then." He suggested, and I nodded enthusiastically. "I'm sure you'll love it. It's the exact opposite of your mother's house."_

That had been three days ago, and, looking back, Dad couldn't have been more wrong. Well, not about the house. It was far from pompous, two stories, had light brown, wooden floors and dark, mostly leather furniture - all in all, the kind of house one yearned to be in after spending a day or more at the perfect, spotless house that Mom called home.

But apart from the house, the part with the holidays; it was simply not true. What had I imagined? Going around town with him, visiting museums, going to the movies? We did none of that. Every single day, I would hardly see him, so often did he lock himself up in his study, leaving me to entertain myself. He would fill out paper work, make powerpoints or call people; whatever it was, I had approximately half an hour with him each day - and those were the meals.

I spent most of my time reading, drawing or listening to music, mostly because Dad had no TV. Sometimes, I would go out into the little garden at night, staring at the stars and wondering if, wherever my sister was, she saw them, too. If she was thinking about me, too. If, maybe, she really was dead. Early in the morning, then, I would go into town and get fresh bread from a nearby bakery. I would stare at the people, wondering if one day, they would be another Amber or another Ruby. Upon arrival back at home, I would read in Amber's diary again, eventhough, by now, I knew it by heart, and when I was finished, I would cook dinner.

In the meantime, I would, as previously mentioned, draw or read.

Today was the third day since I had set foot here in Exeter and I was rather enjoying my stay. True, Dad was working twenty-four seven. But what was the problem? I was glad to be finally left alone.

"Yes. Yes of course I understand that."

I was lying on one of Dad's oriental rugs in the living room, drawing a picture of the Hutcherson's cat from memory, when I heard Dad talking into his business cellphone. Normally, he only took calls in his study. Curious what the matter was, and, more importantly, desperate for some entertainment, I tuned into Dad's conversation, still adding small details to the image every once in a while in order to not spark suspicion.

"What do you mean they have a new head of human resources?" He asked, his voice obviously annoyed. "Look, my daughter is here for a few days, I can't just-"

_Was he going to head back to the office?_

"I don't care if Andrea thinks that I'm just having a hangover... wait, what?"

_Yeah, what?_, I thought, coloring out the inside of the left eye.

He sighed. "Alright, alright. I get it. I'll be there in an hour." He hung up and stared over to me. Immediately, I pretended to be fully enveloped in my drawing. Dad walked up to me slowly, giving me a pat on the back as he reached me.

"Sorry, Ruby, but there's an emergency at the office. I need to be in a meeting ASAP and I have a feeling it's going to be a very long one at that."

I nodded. "Fine. I can take care of myself here for a few hours."

"I think you don't understand" he said. "I promised your Mom to not leave you alone over long periods of time. I'll have to send you back to Kingsbridge."

I closed my eyes in denial as the full meaning of his words hit me - I would have to return to Kingsbridge. To Mom.

_No! Please! Everything, but not this..._

"No!" I yelled at him. "You can't do this to me! She completely misunderstands me!"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I have to. Now go, quick, and pack your stuff. I believe you have a plane to catch and I have a meeting to attend."

_**Exactly fifty-two minutes and twenty-seven seconds later..**_

The entire ride to the airport had been silent, and Dad had continuosly driven at least twenty miles quicker than the speed limit. I could see the sorrow in his eyes as we parked infront of a large building labeled 'Terminal A', and he gave me a hug.

"Sorry, Ruby. I guess I'm the lousiest Dad ever."

"No, it's fine." I sighed. "I guess shit just happens."

He nodded in agreement and produced a small white envelope from behind his parka on the backseat. "This" he explained, handing it to me. "Is 400 bucks in cash. Keep the rest. Oh, and there's also a form of agreement inside. You know, what with unaccompanied under-age."

"You're not coming inside?" I asked. He shook his head.

"_Tempus fugit_." He replied simply.

"Do I have to call Mom to tell her I'm coming?"

No, I guess I can do that for you."

I took a deep breath. "Okay." I gave him a kiss on the cheek and, grabbing my rucksack, made my way out of the silver Mercedes. I was about to enter the terminal when he called me back.

"Oh, and Ruby!"

"Yes?"

"Please, I'm trusting you not to do anything reckless. For the love of God, get yourself a ticket to Kingsbridge and fly home. Understand?" His tone was concerned.

I nodded in reply and watched him release a breath I didn't realize he had been holding. Then, waving him goodbye, I made my way into the airport.

* * *

**Translations: **_Tempus fugit_ - Time runs (Latin)

**Author's Note**: I know, I know. Yet another song. My apologies. It is _Help_ by Hurts. Too, _Night Visions_ is an album by Imagine Dragons.

So. I hoped you liked this Chapter more than the last one - which, admittedly, wasn't my best. I know this chapter wasn't very interesting either, but... it had to be written. You'll understand why further into the story.

Anyways. This was the last 'boring' chapter, promise. She'll do something really reckless in the next one...

**Please review!** :P

Dedicated to my friends Marie and Letizia, the only girls at school that know that it's me writing this. Thank you for not telling anybody, and please continue doing so.


	5. Chapter 5: Recklessness

**Disclaimer**: Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I, on the other hand, own the characters Amber Brown, Ruby Brown, Mr and Ms Brown, Phoebe and Willow Evans, Marlena, Alexis, Louïs, the Konner family, Lucrezia and the Volturi secretaries Noëmi and Adrianna, and the plot. Phew. I'm struggling to remember all of my OCs, and it's only Chapter 5!

**Thanks for the new follows/favs**: aligal528, olivia1204, Qeani, booklover1698

**Thank you for reviewing**: Wersa12345, Qeani, booklover1698

* * *

_Previously on The Story of Ruby Brown_: "Oh, and Ruby!"

"Yes?"

"Please, I'm trusting you to not do anything reckless. For the love of God, get yourself a ticket to Kingsbridge and fly home. Understand?" His tone was concerned.

I nodded in reply and watched him release a breath I didn't realize he had been holding. Then, waving him goodbye, I made my way into the airport.

* * *

**THE STORY OF RUBY BROWN**  
Chapter 5 - Recklessness

_by xMiaCarax_

**Ruby's POV**

Just as I had expected, the terminal was buzzing with life. Everywhere I looked, wherever I turned my head, the noise of a few hundred tourists conversing with each other while waiting more or less patiently in line was all around me. I sighed, realizing that my only way out of this situation, except of leaving the airport, was to take my place behind them and wait my turn. Infront of me, making enough noise for ten, was a young family of four; blue-eyed, blond parents with a heavy austrian accent and a similar looking girl and boy, eight years tops. Despite their parents' constant threats, the two did not seem to ever be able to shut up. Thinking it would be wiser to save my energy for tuning other passengers out while trying to get some sleep on the plane, and not having any source of entertainment except of my iPhone, which was low on charge, with me, I listened in on their conversation.

"Where are we going again, Lisa?" The little boy asked.

She sighed. "Some tour to Italy Mommy and Daddy won. Do I look like I care?"

_Italy? _I thought. _If only I did not have to be in Kingsbridge in a few hours... wouldn't that be nice... yes..._

"Lisa, Hans!" Their mother turned around and scolded them. "Please be a little quieter. People are starting to turn around."

Both of them synchronically rolled their eyes. "Why are we leaving the UK anyway? I thought we were staying here for three weeks, not two?" Lisa asked.

"I told you" the young mother said. "We won a tour around Italy on the radio. You'll love it, I promise."

"We'll see" the small boy said, and he turned around annoyedly, finding me staring at him. "Excuse me, but who are you?" He asked.

"Ruby" I introduced myself, stretching out my hand which he did not take. "Ruby Brown. And you?"

"Hans Konner. So where are you flying?"

Indeed, a good question.

_No_, I told myself. _I shouldn't even be thinking about this. I have to go home, to Kingsbridge. And, as much as I hate it, to Mom. I couldn't abuse their trust like that._

Or could I?

The point was, it wasn't like they hadn't misused my trust before. And by flying to Italy, I could have holidays, real holidays, without Mom and Dad constantly looking over my shoulder. This would be the first vacation ever I would actually enjoy. I would come home, tan, after a few weeks, and stare into their shocked faces.

And, most importantly, I could find Amber.

"So?" Hans asked.

"I'm... I'm not sure" I whispered.

Maybe I should do it - fly to Italy. This _was_ the chance of a lifetime, after all. Never again would I have this much money and a permission slip to go wherever the heck I want within my teenage years; and with every year I didn't go looking for her, the chances of finding her got slimmer. Ergo, I needed to go _now_, and maybe I would have a small chance left.

Then again, there was always the question of money. I had no idea how much a flight to Italy was, but there sure as hell wouldn't be enough left over to spend a few weeks there and fly back home. How would I afford it? Nobody would employ a fourteen year-old, that, to top of her clumsiness, didn't even speak Italian.

I sighed. Would this be the reason why I would never see Amber again? Money? No! What kind of a reason was that?

_A good one._

Wait a sec. Maybe, just maybe... would I be this lucky? Did I pack it? I reached into my rucksack at what felt like the speed of light, searching what I was looking for. Hans eyed me suspiciously.

"I'm just looking for something" I explained, and a huge grin formed on my lips when I realized what a lucky bastard I was.

_My wallet! I'd packed my wallet!_

I opened it, finding my mother's emergency credit card inside. "_Who knows what could happen_", she had said when she had given it to me. "_Use it in emergencies only. Always have it with you, just in case_."

Well, this was an emergency.

"Volterra" I said, eyeing Hans and his sister. "I'm going to Volterra."

Hans nodded and turned away from me, telling Lisa something. I cast my gaze onto the large screen with all the planes that would be flying out today on. I smiled when I saw my destined and actual goal on top of each other.

_Kingsbridge XS6Z - 13:50 - DELAYED_

_Pisa HG5D - 13:30 - ON TIME_

Well, that only manifested my decision.

The line moved forward and before I knew it, it was my turn. Behind a counter in the colors of the airline sat a shy-looking, green eyed blonde girl, eyeing her computer screen. A name tag classified her as Willow Evans. She was about twenty-five.

"What can I do for you?" she asked politely and I pulled Dad's envelope from out of my rucksack.

"One flight to Pisa, economy class please." I said, handing her the money. She looked up from the computer screen, a hint of suspicion in her weary-looking eyes.

"How old are you?"

"Fourteen." I answered, and she was about to shake her head when I continued: "Name's Ruby Brown. I have a permission from my Dad." I showed her the permission, and she nodded.

"Wait, Brown as in your sister is Amber Brown?" She looked shocked, if in a positive or negative way I did not know.

"Yeah." I replied. _How did she know my sister?_

"You're not flying to Pisa to go to Volterra, are you?" The woman was worried.

"Actually, I am. How do you know Amber?"

She sighed. "I'm Willow. Remember me? Willow Evans, Phoebe's sister."

"Oh!" I exclaimed as realization struck. Willow Evans - she had been 17 when they'd found Pheebs. Popular, pretty, smart. All in all, the kind of girl who could have done anything she wanted in life. Oh, the irony. "Of course! So how's life?"

"Fine, I guess." She sighed. "I dropped out of school after Pheebs' death."

"I'm sorry." I said, and I meant it.

"Don't be. It's hardly your fault, is it? If anyone's, it was Pheebs' for jogging around in a foreign country early in the morning." She closed her eyes, as if trying to get an unwanted image out if her head. When she opened them again, a single tear was running down her right cheek. "Did they find your sister?"

I shook my head.

"Listen to me, Ruby. It's bad enough that they're not with us anymore. I don't know what it is with Volterra, but there is something wrong with the city. I had a friend who worked there as a secretary once, Violetta Prandi. They never found her body." I shivered. "What I'm trying to say is... I can't tell you what to do or not, but I beg you to not go. Three people I know dying or going missing there is enough. Don't make it four, please."

I sighed. "That is a pretty terrifying statistic." I said. "But this is my sister, and she may still be alive. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'm flying to Pisa."

She nodded her head in understanding. "Fine." Willow took the money, all of it, and handed me a ticket in return. "Don't go missing, Ruby." She whispered, so that even I could hardly hear her.

"I won't. Have a good life, Willow." With that, I took the small, printed piece of paper and walked away without looking back. _Without daring to think of the horror that would await me in that cursed city._

_**Thirty Minutes Later...**_

I had gone through security without further complications and reached Gate C by noon. Sitting down on one of the black fake-leather seats, I opened my eyes to find the Konners right infront of me.

"Mommy!" Hans almost yelled, pointing his index finger at me. "It's Ruby!"

"Who's Ruby?" the maybe thirty year-old with long, strawberry blond curls replied, slightly confused. I took myself the liberty of answering the question myself.

"I am" I said, smiling politely. "I met your two lovely children when we were waiting in line. I'm on the flight to Pisa."

"Pisa? Are you on your way to Volterra, too?" Her husband turned around, looking very... serious. The exact opposite of his wife and kids, really. Or so it seemed.

"Actually, I am. I'm visiting my sister. And you?"

"We won a tour there on the radio. All expenses paid. The chance of a lifetime, is it not?" The man looked very happy with himself. "We don't go on holidays often, but now not only England but also Italy... you'll tell your grandchildren of this, kids."

"You are very lucky, then." I tried to make conversation.

"Let's hope so. If the tour guide does not show up soon, though, I swear I'll just turn around and go..." his wife trailed off. "Oh, what am I saying. I'm sure she'll be here any minute."

As if on cue, a fox-faced, middle-aged woman with long brown hair, who was exceptionally good looking for her age, walked up to Mr and Ms Konner from behind me. She looked Italian.

"I'm Lucrezia, but you can just call me Luzi. Are you the Konners? I'm your guide." They shook hands. "Who is that? Did you bring a plus one?" She asked, looking at me.

"No, I'm just an airport acquaintance. By the way, I'm Ruby." I introduced myself, and she nodded.

"They could take you as a plus one, you know? Where are you traveling?"

"Volterra."

She smiled. "It's settled, then. Unless you have any problems with that...?" Ms Konner shook her head. "You're more than welcome to be our plus one, if you want."

"I'd be honored. I really appreciate it." I told her, and we embraced.

"_Lovely_" Luzi interruped the moment, "but the plane is not waiting for us. Let's go."

We walked into the plane, taking our seats. Luckily, mine was on the other end of the plane of the Konner's and Luzi's - that way, I would not have to make conversation. I looked through the air mall magazine curiously, but closed it again quickly. I just couldn't stand the fake smiles of the models.  
The plane reached four thousand meters shortly after and I got out my phone, putting on my earphones and hitting shuffle. Mom always said that I listened to too much music, that it took my mind of real matters too much. I disagreed. To be honest, my life sucked. Music, on the other hand, didn't. There was a song for every situation I was in, and it always made me forget my worries. That's why I loved it.

_There's a mad man looking at you  
and he wants to take your soul.  
There's a mad man with a mad plan  
and he's dancing at your door.  
Oh  
What to do, oooh  
what to do  
when the walls are built to crumble.  
There's a mad man with a mad plan  
and he waits for us to stumble._

_**Five Hours Later...**_

The Konners, Luzi and I left Pisa International Airport with our baggage in under ten minutes, jumping into our tour guide's vintage white VW bus. Mr and Ms Konner stayed quiet, Lisa and Hans argued over who could have the bed next to the window at the hotel, and Luzi kept reminding us of our schedule.

"... thirty minutes to check in, we really don't have more time. The evening tour starts at six, and we wouldn't want to miss it. Now about the hotel..."

I tuned out, focusing on the breathtakingly beautiful landscape that could be seen on the other side of the window. The sky was perfectly blue, cloudless. Wherever I looked, there were meadows, acres, forests, lakes, more meadows... blue, green, brown. Three colors - the colors of a paradise, not a cursed landscape. To me at least.

I grabbed my phone to take a picture, turning it on. To my surprise, I had five new text messages.

_DAD: So did you get home alright? Love you. Dad._

_EVIL WITCH: Where are you? It's 14:26, you shouldve been home 2 hours ago._

_EVIL WITCH: Ruby I dont know what game youre playing, but its not funny._

_DAD: Mom's worried about you. What happened? You can tell me._

_EVIL WITCH: Where the heck are you? I'm worrying sick!_

I smirked, and unlocked to send a reply to Mom, "Evil Witch". Something like _Grammar!_ or _I'm still in Europe, chillax_, was what I was going for. I typed the first letters into Whatsapp when I stopped and realization hit me.

I was in Italy. With five complete strangers. Not speaking Italian. Equipped with nothing but an old rucksack and a credit card. Under age. With the goal of finding my sister I had not seen in eight years.

_Yep_, I thought. _This is recklessness._

* * *

**Author's Note**: Hope you liked it! It was really hard to write...the tour is up next! *sadistic laugh*

I think we all know what will happen to the Konners eventually, but how do you like them? Oh, and for those of you that read the pre-story, remember Luzi? Can you guess who she works for? ;)

**Please review! **

First person to tell me what song Ruby is listening to in this Chapter gets a dedication!

Thank you for a total of 11 reviews so far! **My reviewers rock! :P**

Dedicated to Qinea. Thanks for your support!


	6. Chapter 6: A Guided Tour

**Disclaimer**: Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I, on the other hand, own the characters Amber Brown, Ruby Brown, Mr and Ms Brown, Phoebe and Willow Evans, Marlena, Alexis, Louïs, the Konner family, Lucrezia and the Volturi secretaries Noëmi and Adrianna, and the plot.

**Thanks for the new follows/favs**: Godisgood3, XxEmberRosexX, Sapphire Prime, Bayleaf86

**Thank you for reviewing**: dizprincess77, Wersa12345, Godisgood3, booklover1698, Sapphire Prime, Mari Wollsch

* * *

Okay, here's the thing. Considering that the Konners are Austrian and wouldn't always speak English, there will be some German dialogue in this chapter. If you want the translations, they are at the bottom of the chapter, just above the Author's Note.

* * *

_Previously on The Story of Ruby Brown_: I typed the first letters into Whatsapp when I stopped and realization hit me.

I was in Italy. With five complete strangers. Not speaking Italian. Equipped with nothing but an old rucksack and a credit card. Under age. With the goal of finding my sister I had not seen in eight years.

Yep, I thought. This is recklessness.

* * *

Chapter 6 - A Guided Tour

**Ruby's POV**

"Mommy loves me more!"

"No, Mommy loves _me_ more!"

"Kids, please! We love both of you."

I sighed at the third of many stupid arguments the Konner family had been having in the last ten minutes as Luzi's old bus finally stopped infront of what seemed to be the city center of the small village. While the Konners were still busy arguing with each other, I was the first to exit the car and close my eyes when I stepped out into the open, taking in a deep breath of unpolluted, italian air. So I had done it- not followed Dad's orders. Done something so entirely reckless it could be printed as an example under the definition of the word 'reckless' in a dictionary. Gone to Italy when really I should have traveled to a small town in England, to a city I did not even have a map of.

These sure were going to be interesting holidays.

I opened my eyes, and saw Luzi and the Konners getting their luggage out of the back out of the car. I hurried over to them, finding my small, blue rucksack under the avalanche of neon-colored bags and suitcases and pulled it out, causing a large lime green trunk-like bag with the word 'Hermès' printed on it in a glossy shade of white to fall onto the street.

"Look, Lisa, Ruby is _so_ clumsy!" Hans told his sister and pointed at me, laughing. Despite his angelic looks, what with his blond hair, blue eyes and cute face, in a way he reminded me of one of the three that haunted me wherever I was: Louïs Nills. I shivered.

Mr. Konner cursed when he saw the suitcase and shot me a deadly glare. I gulped, looking at my feet in embarassment. I did not even know this man for six hours now - and he must already be thinking of me as some weird idiot.

Which I was. In a way. The last six hours were proof enough of that.

That second, Luzi spoke up. "Okay, listen up everybody please! See that small, four-story building with the sand-coloured bricks over there?"

I turned, eyeing the building she had just described. It looked very old, maybe even a few centuries. But then again, who was I to tell? Maybe it was just the numerous layers of dust and dirt that gave it this old, gloomy look. What was it? I directed my gaze at the ground floor, to a spot next to the dark brown, wooden entrance door and found the words 'Hotel Piazza' painted on it with black color. Mystery solved, I thought, internally smirking, and nodded. So did the certain austrian family next to me.

"Good, this will be your hotel in Volterra. Now, we don't have much time. Like I said in the car, the tour starts in a couple of minutes - and believe me, you'd hate to miss it. The tours really are legendary. Believe me, it will rob you of your breath. When I saw that the first time...I-"

"_Ja, ja, ja_" Hans interrupted. "Get to the point."

Luzi smiled and continued, glancing at her watch. "We have just about ten minutes. Please just go inside, check in, and lock your luggage into your room. Then come back here immediately. _Capice_?"

We nodded synchronically and ran off into the, thankfully, air-conditioned hotel. I was the first in line at reception, and an unremarkable, black-haired italian girl handed me a room key with the number '13' on it with a forced, polite smile. I instantly ran off to the elevator in an attempt to escape the constant chatter of the twins, which was starting to seriously get on my nerves, staring at the small sign that informed me what room was on which floor for a little while before finally pressing the '2' button. Ten seconds later, a loud ping! was heard and I was in a long, brightly lit hallway with red carpeting. I found my room almost immediately - it was the one directly on the left of the elevator. Locking it open, I found a large room with, surprisingly, two queen-sized beds, a plasma TV and a small, but romantic balcony. The walls were cream, and the carpeting was just like the one in the hallway.

I did as Luzi had told me, took my rucksack and threw it on one of the beds. Realizing that I still had some time before we were to meet up again, I decided to take a closer look at the balcony. Stepping out, I saw that it was small, maybe two times two meters, and I could see the entire city square from here. In the middle was a large fountain, surrounded by many small shops, a café, Giovanni's Bookstore, another, posher hotel called 'Hotel di Priori' and, on the right side of our hotel, a building that was, too, made from sand-colored bricks, looked gloomy and very, very old. Maybe even a few millenia. It was bigger than our hotel, six-stories and had a small clock tower. Its windows were shaded so one could not see inside, and there were no balconies.

This was the castle, then.

It definetely had something mysterious to it, though. As if there was some dark secret behind the innocent little tourist attraction - something that was well hidden. I didn't know why, but just thinking of entering that place sent both chills of excitement and anxiety down my back.

I looked at my watch. Two more minutes until the tour began. I should make my way down now.

I grabbed the key, locked the door and made my way down the giant staircase. Luzi was waiting in the lobby, and without a word pointed towards a small group that was gathering around a woman in the city center. I walked towards the door, but stopped just before opening it.

"Aren't you coming?"

It was strange; she looked shocked, as if the thought alone was enough to terrify her. She quickly caught herself, though, and exchanged her horrified expression to a polite smile. "No, no. I've been too many times already. Besides, there is a separate guide for the tour of the castle."

"Oh" I said, resulting in an awkward silence.

"Go now, you'll miss it." Luzi broke the silence. Her tone was sad. "Goodbye, Ruby."

"Why are you telling me goodbye?" I replied. "We'll see each other when the tour is over."

Luzi stared at me blankly. "Go now" she repeated, looking at her feet. "You'll miss the tour."

I did as she told me, mainly because I knew I wouldn't receive any information from her and to escape the awkward atmosphere, leaving the hotel and feeling Luzi's eyes on my back.

"_Hallo_, Ruby" Lisa greeted me as I walked up to her and her family. "How do you like your room?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but I was interrupted when the woman the group had been gathering around walked up to me. I could see that she was very beautiful; in fact, too beautiful. It looked unnatural - no, let me rephrase that. Unhuman. She had long, slightly curly brown hair, skin as pale as snow and -the most terrifying of all- violet irises. Ignore those, and she definetely had model qualities. Her legs were in a 2:1 ratio to the rest of her body, and eventhough she was at least a size 2, she was, to put it mildly, not a size 2 up _there_. She was the kind of woman who had all men turning around, jaws dropped when she entered a room, and to show it off, she wore a short, black dress which left no (let me emphasize that: absolutely _no_) room for imagination, and red heels.

_If_ you could ignore the creepy eyes, that is. Which I couldn't.

"Hello" she said, stretching out her hand. "My name is Heidi, I will be your tour guide for today."

"Pleasure" I told her, shaking her hand. It was icy cold. _There is something wrong with this tour_, my subconscious told me. _It all adds up. The mysteriousness of the building. Luzi's expression. Heidi's eyes and skin._

_Run._

_No_, I replied. _Amber might have taken this tour, too. Maybe taking it will help me find her._

"What's your name? You look familiar." Heidi stated.

"Really? I don't remember having met you before" I answered sheepishly. "But my name's Ruby."

Her eyes widened for a milisecond, but then she put her smiley face back on, eventhough there was still a hint of suspicion on her face.

"That's a nice name, Ruby. Would you like to tell me what your last na-"

"Heidi." A brawny, huge man with short brown hair suddenly appeared out of nowhere, effectively making her turn away from me. He had the same violet eyes and white skin.

Dammit. So it wasn't something genetic, because they definetely weren't related.

"Felix."

"I'm afraid there's been a slight change of plans. Aro wants to have a word with you. I am to... take _care_ of the group. Oh, and don't worry..." he eyed me. "I'll take care of your unfinished business."

_Run, you fool!_ My subconscious almost screamed. I ignored it.

"Okay" she sighed. "Just one little thing before I go..."

"Are you deaf? Aro wants to have a word before the group arrives. You shouldn't keep him waiting."

Heidi sighed, shooting me one last glare. "Fine." From one second to the next, she was gone.

As in, _gone_. Not even walking away. As in it seemed like she disappeared into thin air.

Humans didn't do that.

"Alright, may I borrow your attention please!" the man named Felix exclaimed, and all went silent. "I'm afraid Heidi has other duties to attend to at the moment." Several groans could be heard from the group. Felix smirked. "Do not worry yourselves. It is our highest priority to have our customer's wishes satisfied, and if that includes taking a tour, then our customers are taking a tour. I will be your tour guide. You can call me Felix." By now, everyone was staring at him expectantly except of Lisa, who was playing on her mother's iPhone. "Oh, and before I forget... please hand over your electronic devices for the sake of other's enjoyment. You will get them back once you leave the castle." An evil smile formed on his lips. If it were not for the fact that Amber could have taken the tour, I swear I would have fled as quickly as my legs could take me. Felix and Heidi were seriously creeping me out; and the fact that they literally were taking the chance of calling for help away from us wasn't exactly helping.

Felix had collected all phones, cameras, music players and tablets by now, but the sadistic smile hadn't fled his face. _Oh my fricken God. I'm gonna die in there._

"Follow me" he merely ordered and the group followed him like stupid, mindless chicken. I would take this tour, I decided then. I would do everything to find my sister, and if that involved dying in some terrifying 'tourist attraction', she'd probably suffered the same fate.

_If this is to end in fire  
Then we should all burn together._

The interior of the castle was beautiful, nobody in their right mind could deny that. I had been right; it was old, very old. The floor was entirely made of uneven pieces of stone, which made both Lisa and Hans trip synchronically and scratch their knees. Blood was streaming down their legs, and I could have sworn I'd seen Felix turn around to them with a wanting look in his violet eyes. The walls on the other hand were plain and white, with the occasional painting in expensive-looking, gold encrusted frames. It was hard to see what was in the paintings, though. It was very dark, like at night, eventhough it had been just after noon outside. Every fifteen meters or so, we would pass a window in the ceiling and Felix pulled up the hood of his dark grey cloak. Astonishingly, I seemed to be the only one to notice that Felix wasn't telling us anything about the things we saw while walking right past them. All we seemed to be doing was walk after him.

"_Daddy, es ist so dunkel hier!_" Lisa complained.

"_Mir ist kalt, Mommy!_"

"_Mein Knie tut weh!_"

"_Können wir zurück ins Hotel gehen?_"

"_Ich habe Angst_."

"_Werdet ihr wohl still sein?_" Mr Konner scolded his twins. "It's a medieval castle, for God's sake, it's supposed to be scary and cold and dark!"

As if he had heard their conversation, Felix intervened "Do not worry yourselves, we will reach the tour's destination shortly. Let me assure you that it will be both warm and light where you are going."

That sounded wrong.

After one more minute of just walking around the always same-looking halls, I cast my gaze to the right. There, in about two meters, another painting was coming up. Luckily, there was a window right over this one, so maybe, just maybe, there would a chance that I could see what it was picturing. I paused to stand when I reached it, not realizing that the group was moving away from me. What I saw took my breath.

Infront of a pitch black background stood a boy, perhaps, no, certainly the most beautiful boy I had ever seen. He was small, maybe one or two years younger than my fourteen years, but somehow he seemed much, much older. The boy had short brown hair and full lips, and eventhough he shared the same pale skin and strange eye color as Heidi and Felix (although his eyes were red, not violet), I could not feel scared of him; quite the opposite. It was almost like a natural wave of calmness was spreading through my body at his sight. A strange, but rather enjoyable feeling. Was this how it was like to be in love? _No_, I thought. _How could you love a boy you've only ever seen on a painting in a pre-medieval castle? He could be dead for centuries._

I didn't want to think about that. I knew I would probably never get to know this perfect boy, but I did wish him well from the bottom of my heart.  
I turned around then, knowing I should get back to the group instead of staring at ancient paintings. But to my surprise and shock, I could neither see nor hear them.

Just perfect, Ruby.

Sighing, I followed the maze-like corridor in the direction the group had been walking in. It couldn't be so hard to find a loud group of tourists, after all.

Or could it?

Even after two more minutes of walking, they were nowhere to be found. It was official now: I had lost them, and I would not find them, either. I would have to quietly take my leave now; return to the city center and accept that if my sister had gone missing here, I would never find her as Heidi and Felix would recognize me as the girl that ran away the next time I were to join a tour group.

I was pulled from my thoughts when, out of nowhere, a large rectangle-formed ray of light appeared on the stone floor. Dazzled by the sudden brightness, I closed my eyes and walked back into the darkness to protect my eyes from exposure. Curious to find out where this blinding light came from, I opened my eyes again and saw an open door that led to... what exactly? A large, green area. Thinking that, if I was already in here, I would control every place I could for signs of Amber, I walked over to the heavy wooden door and entered what I now recognized to be an enormous garden that looked like it was taken from the page of an Elle Decor magazine.

I walked into the center of the garden, and noticed my jaw dropping at the lovely arrangement of flowers and decorations. Why wasn't this part of the tour? It was certainly much more interesting than the dark hallways.

**Aro's POV**

I smirked as the doors to the throne room were thrown open and a large group of mouth-watering, oblivious tourists entered behind Felix. I had not hunted for days now, and I was, as always, a little sorry to take a life. But when the tantalizing smell of their blood reached my nose, I knew that their lifes were forfeit the second they agreed to take a tour. No human had ever escaped it, and no human would exit the castle alive now.

The group suddenly came to a halt in the middle of the room, staring at us expectantly. Oh, what fools they were to think that we would provide them with some sort of entertainment. _They_ were entertainment to _us_.

"Welcome to Volterra!" I greeted them, standing up from my throne and giving them a sadistic smile. "Thank you for coming. We greatly appreciate your sacrifice."

The doors were being shut behind them then, and one after another their expressions turned from expectant to panicked. A few of them started screaming for help, while others closed their eyes, readying themselves for what was to come. How did humans cope with fear in the moment of death? I could have written several books on the topic by now.

Glancing to my right, the short, brown-haired girl which I loved so dearly took a deep breath and closed her eyes, only to open them again seconds later, pitch black. Then suddenly, she wasn't to my right anymore. She was in the center of the throne room, ripping out a small, blond girl's throat and drinking her blood eagerly.

**Ruby's POV**

I was lying on the grass, staring off dreamily into the cloudless sky. I knew I should be leaving by now; after all, Amber was definetely not in this garden and the tour group would probably be leaving in a few minutes. Sighing, I imagined what I was missing. Where had the group been headed to? I shivered as I remembered what Felix had said about the destination.

"_Let me assure you that it will be both warm and light where you are going._"

He said '_you_'. Why did he say '_you_'? Why didn't he say 'where _we_ are going'?

_You should be happy_, my subconscious told me. _I wouldn't be too surprised if they're all dead by now. And you survived to tell the tale. Get the hell out of here while you still can!_

**Aro's POV**

We watched in silence as Chelsea walked over to the last remaining human - a young woman with strawberry blond curls who was lying on the marble floor face down, trying to play dead to save herself, not aware that her attempts were in vain as her heartbeat was giving her away. Chelsea made it quick and clean, and not even a single scream emerged from the woman's throat while she was dying. The second she finished her meal, Felix and Afton came forth, picked up the body and threw it onto the large pile of bloody corpses. I quickly counted the bodies, and my eyes widened when I noticed a small, but crucial detail.

"Heidi?"

She bowed. "Yes, Master?"

"Didn't you say that there were thirty-eight humans in today's group?"

"Yes, Master."

I sighed. "My, my, Heidi. I would have thought you and Felix were more capable of taking care of our victims."

I could see the sudden panic in her face. "What do you mean, Master?"

"Well, Heidi, despite the original number of humans, there are only thirty-six corpses. Demetri took one to his chambers, but that would still leave us with thirty-seven. Therefore, my dear Heidi, one human is on the run."

"Leave. Now." Caius hissed. "Do not return before the human is taken care of. You may dispose of it yourself."

"Yes, Master" Heidi bowed again, and in a matter of milliseconds she was gone.

**Ruby's POV**

"Hello."

Standing up and casting my gaze to the left, a beautiful, pale woman I recognized as Heidi walked up to me, smiling. She was wearing a long, dark grey cloak, just like Felix's.

"Um... Hello. I... I kind of lost the group." I replied awkwardly, sighing. "Sorry I just walked into the garden. I guess I should have just left."

"It's quite alright" Heidi told me. "What is your name?"

"Oh, right. I haven't properly introduced myself, right? I'm Ruby. Ruby Brown."

She smiled again, but somehow, this time her smile wasn't genuine. It seemed almost sad. "Tell me, Ruby..." she began, her beautiful voice sounding more unsure of herself by the minute. "What is a young woman like you doing in a foreign country without her parents?"

"I..." I sighed, closing my eyes. "I'm looking for my sister. She went missing in this town over eight years ago."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be" I told her. "It's hardly your fault, is it?"

She didn't answer.

"Do you know her, by any chance? Amber Rose Brown? She must be twenty-two by now."

"I know no Amber Brown." She shook her head, and her hair moved along synchronically, like waves almost. "Come now. The tour is over, you should leave."

I nodded my understanding. "Fine. If I may ask, when is the next tour? I'd really like to see what I've missed..."

"Oh." She said, and she looked like she'd just been confronted with a problem she hadn't even thought possible of existing. "Um... I'm sorry, but we have a strict one visit per visitor policy here due to the large number of requests."

"Oh. Okay then, I guess. Can you show me the way out, though? No offense, but the hallways are like a maze here."

"That is their purpose - to keep unwanted visitors from leaving." She explained.

"Do you mean like back in the middle ages?"

"Yes." Heidi smirked. "In the middle ages."

She took my hand then, and we made our way out of the gardens. We were back inside the dark hallways before I knew it, and it took my eyes several seconds to adjust to the darkness.

"Ruby?" Heidi asked.

"Yes?"

"I do know an Am-"

She was interrupted by the agonizing scream of a woman, maybe twenty meters away from me. I shivered, goosebumps forming on every inch of my body. What happened? I just had to help her. I turned around into the direction of the scream, not knowing that what I saw would change everything.

There was a woman. That was all I could say about her - it was hard to say what she looked like with the man standing infront of her. What I did notice, though, was the woman's skin. It was deathly pale, but not like Heidi's or Felix's. It was the skin of a person who was moments away from death.  
And the man - _oh God_. He was beautiful, so very beautiful... a beautiful devil. His teeth sank deeper and deeper into the woman's throat, blood running down his cloak, emptying her of life. A horrified scream escaped my lips.

That moment, I was violently thrown towards a wall. Was it him? No, no, no! Please God, I'm too young to die...

It was Heidi.

"I'm afraid there's been a change of plans" she informed me, but this time her voice was dead serious. And with that, she dragged me off into the direction the group had walked in.

* * *

**Translations**:

_Ja, ja, ja_. - Yes, yes, yes.

_Hallo_ - Hello

_Daddy, es ist so dunkel hier!_ - Daddy, it's so dark in here!

_Mir ist kalt, Mommy!_ - I'm cold, Mommy!

_Mein Knie tut weh!_ - My knee hurts!

_Können wir zurück ins Hotel gehen?_ - Can we go back to the hotel?

_Ich habe Angst._ - I'm scared.

_Werdet ihr wohl still sein?_ - Will you be quiet?

* * *

**Author's Note**: Longest chapter so far! :P

So how did you like it? Too cruel? Too explicit? Too much of a filler chapter? Confusing? What do you think happens next? Please just go ahead and tell me in a **review**! It just takes a few seconds and makes my day!

Dedicated to **dizprincess77** for being the first to guess that the song Ruby heard in the last chapter was _Jump on My Shoulders_ by Awolnation. As for the next chapter, the person who is the closest to guessing the actual  
plot line of the next chapter gets a dedication. Looking forward to your opinions! ;)

Thank you for an amazing total of 17 reviews so far! You rock!


	7. Chapter 7: Wrong Place, Wrong Time

**Disclaimer**: You know what? You already know my OCs by now, I'm just gonna save us all some time and stop telling you at the beginning of every chapter that they are mine. They are, in all of this story, and if you want proof for that it's in Chapters 1 - 6. There. Oh, and by the way, Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

** Thank you for the new follows/favs**: Bleedingheart2XLoLa, Daiane Dana, Shakuton, .freak

**Thank you so much for reviewing**: Wersa12345, booklover1698, dizprincess77, Daiane Dana

* * *

_Previously on The Story of Ruby Brown_: "I'm afraid there's been a change of plans" she informed me, but this time her voice was dead serious. And with that, she dragged me off into the direction the group had walked in.

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Chapter 7 - Wrong Place, Wrong Time

**Ruby's POV**

I was out of my mind in fear, trying to find a way out of Heidi's stone-like, strong arms as we made our way through the gloomy corridors, walking further and further into the castle. The little hope that had still remained for this situation to end positively left me just seconds ago when I saw that man and his victim, the woman with the strawberry blond curls. I was so naïve to think that anything good would come out of this trip... instead of to my sister, it brought me into a castle of strange-eyed, blood sucking monsters. And the worst thing about it was: there was absolutely no way out of it. Heidi, Felix, the man... they were all stronger than me, so much stronger that I was almost like a little porcelain doll to them in comparison, ready to be crushed at any second. Willow, Phoebe's sister, had been right. This city was cursed, and I, the fool, had walked into it willingly. I remembered Violetta, her friend, who's body had never been found... and I remembered Phoebe, Willow's sister, who had been found in the forest bloodlessly. I wondered if they'd ever find me. I wondered if Mom and Dad would come after me. I wondered who's body they'd find first, cold and lifeless... mine or Amber's or Violetta's.

"Please..." I begged Heidi, tears in my eyes. "For the love of God, look me in the eyes and see that I am just a little girl who was at the wrong place at the wrong time..." I knew it sounded ridiculous, but I was desperate, so desperate.

She didn't respond, but instead shot me a glare that told me to be silent. I ignored it.

"Heidi, I beg of you... I will not tell a soul, I swear on my life... just let me go alive..."

Heidi rolled her eyes. "I cannot make you such promises."

Tears streamed down my face then, clouding my vision. Heidi couldn't be bargained with, I realized. I would die, and I would never find Amber...

"Fine." I said, gathering all of my courage. "Kill me, kill me... just tell me one thing: what happened to my sister?"

We reached a giant pair of heavy, wooden doors then and Heidi stopped right infront of them. She was silent all of a sudden, but when we locked eyes, she looked sorry.

"Listen to me now, Ruby" she said, her voice sad yet calm. "Dry your tears. Do it. Now." I did as she told me, and when I was finished she continued. "We will go into this room now, and when you are inside, you must speak only if you are spoken to, do you understand?"

"Yes" I whispered.

"Good." Heidi nodded. "If you are asked a question, answer it truthfully. Other than that, do as you are told and stay at my side at all times, do you understand? This is of the utmost importance." I nodded slowly. "Fine. Listen to me, I know you feel as if there is no hope left for you, but believe me when I tell you that that is only partially true. Your fate is out of my hands the second we enter that room, it will be in the hands of those inside. You would do well to remember that."

I nodded, again, and Heidi threw open the heavy doors as if they were made of butter. The room we entered was breathtaking. It was circle-shaped, had polished marble floors and a dome with paintings that would put Michelangelo to shame. Long, rectangular windows littered the walls, the light reflecting off the back of three black thrones with golden elements. All three thrones were occupied, and all three of their owners were beautiful; however, with their pale skin, long black robes and piercing crimson irises, I could not help but feel like a lamb to be slaughtered. The man on the left throne had long, brown hair, looked about nineteen and very, very apathetic. The man in the middle looked about Amber's age. He had long, black hair and stared at me as if I was his shiny, new toy. The man to the right, though, shot me a sadistic, purely evil glare that made cold shivers run down my spine. He had blond, almost white hair. I instantly felt even more uncomfortable standing infront of them - if that was even possible given my current situation.

"Heidi!" the black-haired one exclaimed, a confused expression on his face when his eyes met mine. "Did you forget your orders...?"

She shook her head. "No, Master." _Master?_ Was this the mafia, or what was this? "Ruby Brown here got lost on the tour."

Surprisingly, all three of them flinched at the mention of my full name. Oh, the irony...

"Heidi" the blond man said, still eyeing me. "I thought we had taken...precautions for this kind of situation?"

"Why is she still here?" the man in the middle asked straight forward. "Am-" He stopped suddenly, closing his eyes and then starting again. "My mate will be malicious when she hears!"

"Am? As in, Amber Brown?" I blurted out, immediately regretting having opened my mouth when four sets of violet and crimson eyes stared back at me. "Do you... know her, by any chance? I'm looking for her."

Silence. The left one continued after a while, cautiously though, not daring to look me in the eyes. "Tell us then, Heidi: What were the unfortunate circumstances that led to this?"

Heidi took my arm, walked up to the thrones and dragged me with her. I did not struggle, eventhough going anywhere near these three Masters was against all of my instincts. I simply was not in need of a broken arm, that was all. We reached them shortly, and stopped infront of the man in the middle.

"I think it easier if you were to see this for yourself, Aro" Heidi told him, and, when he nodded his agreement, stretched out her left hand towards him. The man named Aro took it eagerly, closing his eyes in concentration. Nobody dared to make a noise as he was in this trance.

Then, the strangest thing happened. All of a sudden, a ray of light shot through the large windows, illuminating the hall and making the grey and black cloaks' skin sparkle as if it was made of thousands of tiny diamonds. It was, of that I was sure, both the most beautiful and the most terrifying thing I had ever seen. Had I had any doubts concerning these people's non-human status... well, they were certainly all gone now. Humans simply didn't sparkle in the sun, it was as easy as that.

Immediately they tensed, their superior expressions turning into deep frowns.

"Well, I guess there's no point in believing in her ignorance anymore now, is there?" the blond man snarled, and I knew that moment that whatever these monsters were, whatever Marcus and Heidi had told me, they were not going to let me leave this room alive.

"No!" Heidi yelled beside me, her beautiful face turning towards Aro. "Please... you know it will kill her." I internally chuckled. _No shit, sherlock._

But Aro shook his head. "Heidi, you are more than biased, and I am afraid must ask you to leave the throne room for the trial. Demetri, go ahead and take her to her room. I will call for her if I need her again."

The man that I had seen in the corridor appeared out of nowhere then, stains of the woman's blood littering his cloak. I took a closer look at him and saw that he had messy, brown hair, a handsome face and an average build. He noticed me staring at him and hissed, his crimson irises shining with obvious bloodlust. I quickly averted my gaze, glaring down at the marble floor. I did not want to gather his attention again, and therefore did not dare to allow my eyes to follow the two as they made their way out of the room. I heard the heavy doors shut behind them mere fractions of seconds later, knowing that I was alone now, without Heidi to protect me.

Nobody made a sound, and I stood in my spot in the center of the room motionlessly while waiting for one of the Masters to say something. My wish was not granted. All three of them were staring at me intently, as if to figure out what to do with me.

"Ruby, is it?" the man to the left said all of a sudden, breaking the silence. "My name is Marcus. Please, do not be afraid."

I chuckled sarcastically. "I'm afraid that's impossible given the circumstances."

He smiled kindly. "I know this must be hard for you, but it is what it is necessary and therefore we need to deal with this. I am sure that you agree."

I nodded, unsure.

"Good. Now, there are a few questions you will need to answer. Remember that this is a kind of court, so please tell the truth. Believe me, we have our ways of finding out if somebody is lying." Marcus replied, eyeing Aro.

"Is there anyway that I will leave this place alive?" I asked straightforward. Aro sighed.

"That, dear one, depends entirely on your answers." Marcus informed me, and I gulped.

Clapping his hands together excitedly, Aro then stood up, beginning the 'trial'. "Silence in the court!" he yelled. "This is the trial of Ruby Brown, held by Aro, Marcus and Caius Volturi." _Caius_. So that was the name of the blond devil. "Others attending: Afton, Chelsea and Felix Volturi." He pointed to a black-haired male who was holding hands with a female with strawberry blond curls, standing to my left next to the Felix. The woman gave me a sympathetic nod. I instantly liked her.

"Let us get on with this, then" Caius apathetically sighed. "Who are you and why are you here?"

I closed my eyes in an attempt to tune out the pairs of unnaturally colored eyes that were staring at me and began. "My name is Ruby Jasmyne Brown and I am fourteen years old. I am originally from Kingsbridge, UK, but I came here to find my sister who went missing in Volterra eight years ago." I took a deep breath and continued, opening my eyes. "I came here alone. I was with my father in Exeter, but he sent me back to my mother after just a few days. My parents are divorced. He dropped me off at the airport, and, well..." I sighed. "I figured this was my one and only chance to ever see Amber again. You see, my life's been miserable since the second I received her call eight years ago. I thought it was a good idea to find her." Tears started forming in my eyes, but I did my best to fight them back. The last thing I needed now was for them to see me as any more weak than I already was.

The Masters shot each other anxious looks at my reply. "So she did not forget the call." I heard Aro whisper in a tone just loud enough to be audible. Hearing this sent chills down my back. They had heard of me and my story already. They knew me. There was only one reason for this:

Amber was here.

So there was hope left for me.

"Ruby" Aro pulled me from my thoughts. "How did you get on this tour?"

I shrugged. "I... I met this austrian family at the airport, they'd won a journey to Volterra on the radio. We made a little small talk, and when their tour guide showed up, she said they could take me as a plus one. Of course they agreed. Then when we arrived in Volterra, we were almost instantly ushered into the town square and followed Heidi. Well, no. We followed Felix, Heidi left but shot me this strange look as if she'd seen me before before she left. To make a long story short, when we were inside, I saw the painting of a..." I blushed.

"Well?" Caius asked impatiently. "You saw a painting of what, human?"

"Well... it was the painting of a very, very beautiful boy. He looked younger than me and had brown hair. I... I was kind of mesmerized by him, and when I finally turned back around the group was gone. I thought I'd maybe find them, but all I found was a garden, so I went there and searched it for signs of my sister until Heidi showed up."

"Did anything... unusual happen when you were with Heidi?" Marcus demanded.

"Well, yes. We walked down the corridors when suddenly I heard this scream and turned around to see it was coming from a woman with strawberry blond hair who was being..." I shuddered at the memory. "...bitten in the neck by this Demetri guy."

Caius shook his head. "How dare Demetri expose ourselves to humans?"

Aro shot him a silencing look, then continued the interrogation. "Did you notice anything unusual, or even anything that was slightly off in the castle?"

I thought about this for a second. "The eyes" I said almost immediately. "Red and violet. I thought it was something genetic when I first saw Heidi, but then Felix came along and they didn't look related at all."

Marcus nodded approvingly. "Anything else?"

"Yes" It came out far quieter than I wanted it to be, but alone the fact that they were interrogating me and not the others led me to the conclusion that my subconscious had been right in more ways than one - and the tour group hadn't left this place alive. "Heidi's strength. The heightened beauty. When Demetri killed the woman. Obviously. I mean, that's just not human. And, of course, you guys sparkling in the sunlight."

Aro sighed. "She knows too much."

"She's a liability." Caius added, smirkingly. "There are only two choices now."

I closed my eyes, yet again. Maybe if I woke up from this nightmare now, these monsters would perish. True, I did not know their choices, but something told me they were a choice between pest and cholera.

I did not wake up.

Standing up from his throne and walking towards me, Aro's face lit up in a polite smile. "Ruby, _dear one_... give me your hand."

"W-why?" I choked as panick got the better of me. Who knew what he would do to me if he had a hold of me - a broken hand would be one of the merrier things my imagination had to offer.

"Do not worry yourself" he said, his voice smooth as velvet. "I know you are trying to keep up the illusion of being calm, but your heartbeat is giving you away, dearest. I do not mean to worry you. No harm will come to you if you give me your hand, I promise it."

I rolled my eyes. "Your promise is worth nothing given the power you would obtain over me. I am sure that you could crush me in a second."

"Why, a smart one, too." Marcus commented.

Caius shook his head annoyedly. "While that, _dear one_" he made it sound like a swear. "...may be a perfectly logical point, I believe you have no choice if you do not want to share the same fate as your dear austrian family and the rest of the group."

He smirked and stared at something behind me, and while I knew turning around to see what it was would be foolish, my inner, curious child took over, shutting down my mind, and I slowly turned around.

"Felix, stop her!" Aro cried almost desperately, as if not _my_, but _his_ life was on the line. As if on cue, something very, very hard slammed into me then, full force. With all his might, Felix pulled me into the other direction, but it was too late. The second horrified scream that day left my lips, and I felt my legs give in under the weight of what I had seen.

Across the room in a corner on the left of the entrance lay, stacked into a great pile, the deathly pale, motionless bodies of the people I had entered this hell with just several minutes ago. Their clothes were soaked in their own blood and that of others, some of their eyes threatening to fall out of their sockets in pure terror. I recognized only four; the corpses of the righteous, innocent family who I had taken this fateful journey with. Lisa and Hans were on the bottom of the pile, seemingly holding each others hands. While I was relieved to see them at the bottom, for it probably meant that they were one of the first victims and did not need to witness their parents dying, I felt the tears blurring my vision and my breathing growing heavier as I saw that Lisa's neck was twisted in an unnatural angle. I averted my gaze, only to see a woman with strawberry blond curls staring at me from the very top of the stack of dead bodies. It was their mother.

"Vampires" I whispered in realization, falling into Felix's arms. Then everything went black.

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So yeah, here it is. Sorry I haven't updated in such a long time - I had a very, very tough case of writer's block, and school work hasn't exactly decreased. I hope you enjoyed this chapter nevertheless! And I'll be sure to update soon, given I've left you with a cliffhanger...

**Please leave a review! :P Even if it's bad, it means the world to me.**

Oh, and by the way. There's a contest on my website, if anybody is interested. The link is on my profile (or just my username . blogspot . com). Thank you for participating in advance!

Dedicated to **Wersa12345** and **Daiane Dana**. Thank you!


	8. Chapter 8: Conundrum

**Obligatory Disclaimer: **Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight, I don't. Last time I checked, I made no profit of this, therefore I am not gaining financially from this either.

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Chapter 8 - Conundrum

**General POV **

A room. Filled up to the top of the old stucco ceiling with items of pure luxury, almost as pointlessly gigantic as the one her human sister had just lost her consciousness in, a seemingly fourteen year-old girl with deadly pale skin and long brown hair lay on a red velvet chaiselongue, reading one of her husband's old manuscripts from Renaissance times. Once in a while, she would lay the book aside to stand up and take a look at the Botticelli paintings on the cream walls or the almost park-like garden that seemed to extend endlessly outside of her windows, and sometimes, she would even call for somebody; but all in all, she liked to spend her days isolated in her room and the nights with her mate or friends. It was an extravagant, carefree, even royal life that she had grown accustomed to over the years. And one thing was for sure - she did not have trouble adjusting.

Suddenly, the girl's peace was disturbed as the heavy wooden door to her room was thrown open, full force. She shuddered at the memory of what had begun over eight years ago with the same action and, putting away the manuscript, stood up from her seat, now standing in a protective position with her teeth bared. She visibly relaxed as beautiful, brown haired vampire with startling crimson irises who she recognized as her friend entered the room, and sat back down, sighing.

"Heidi" she greeted her. "What can I assist you with?"

"Nothing." Heidi replied quietly. Her voice was shaking.

The girl noticed it immediately, tensing. "What is it?" She asked anxiously. "I know something is up."

Heidi took a deep, unnessecary breath and said: "Your sister."

"No." It came out as nothing but a whisper. "No, it cannot be." The girl closed her eyes then, scanning the castle for a familiar scent. To her absolute horror, she located one. It came from the throne room.

**Ruby's POV **

I opened my eyes, my vision growing more accurate by the second. Where was I? Was it morning already? And since when did I have a dome in my room?

I froze as a dreadfully familiar face came into my view - Felix. I remembered it all then; my journey to Volterra, the painting, Ms Konner and Demetri... and her children. I must have lost consciousness and fallen into the vampire's stone arms, because there I was now.

"Brother, the human has gained consciousness" Caius, the blond vampire, remarked, glaring at me. I gave him a look of pure disgust, slowly standing up and in vain trying to keep Felix from helping me. I hated him. I hated all of them, in fact. Soulless murderers, that was what they were.

"Yes, so it would seem brother" Aro replied casually, turning towards me. "Dearest Ruby, would you now do me the honor of giving me your hand?"

I was torn between following Heidi's advice to do whatever I was told in order to save my life and screaming senselessly at him, telling him my mind and waiting for my senses to fade away in death like a flower's petals at the start of winter; over a long period of time, leaving behind nothing but a useless corpus. I was about to just go ahead and do what had brought me into this situation in the first place, spontaneously doing something ridiculously reckless, when my sister appeared infront of my inner eye, smiling down at a younger version of me. My heart skipped a beat at the pleasant memory, and it was that moment that I knew exactly what to do. For the longest time of my short, miserable life, I had imagined what it would be like to be reunioned with her. Now that the opportunity had seemingly presented itself on a silver plate to me, I had received a chance to convert the dream of my late childhood and early adolescence into real life. Aro, as much as I hated him with every piece of my soul, had mentioned an 'Am'. Heidi had talked of knowing an 'Am' before being interrupted by Ms Konner's scream. If I liked it or not, she was here, or had been, and it would be nothing if not foolish to give up if the end of this marathon was now so close that the finish line was almost visible.

"Yes, Aro" I sighed, taking a deep breath. Felix released me, and I saw the vampire I had been acquainted to as 'Chelsea' giving me an encouraging nod as I made my way towards the other end of the room, towards Aro. He smiled as a concerned father would as I reached him, taking my right hand without wasting any further time. Just like with Heidi, his eyes closed in concentration, and the entire room fell silent. Unlike with Heidi, his eyes opened just seconds later, a both uncomfortable and excited expression forming on his face.

"It seems" he said, turning towards Marcus. "That this little one is immune to my powers."

Several gasps were heard, including my own. What powers?

"Mine do not seem to work on her, either" his brother informed him. A greedy look filled Aro's crimson eyes for a moment, but it perished when Caius spoke up.

"_Fratello, ricordati che questa ragazza è. Tua moglie non sarà contento se si mantiene la sua._"

Aro nodded sadly. "_Naturalmente. Purtroppo, la legge pretende di lei_."

This was one of those moments were I really regretted taking Spanish and not Italian. I did not understand a word of what they were saying... maybe it was better that way, though, thinking about it.

Sighing, Aro locked eyes with mine. "Let us have the girl's opinion on this conundrum."

"You can not be serious" Caius sneered. "She is nothing but a meek little human. If not for her identity, she would be lying somewhere along those corpses now!"

"I believe Aro has reason. It his her fate, not ours, brother." Marcus agreed, then added: "_Il suo compagno non sarà così vizioso se almeno ha dato alla ragazza una possibilità_."

"_Bene_."

Right, you've had your fun. Now stop the fricken Italian, I want to know what the heck is going on here.

As if Aro had heard my thougts, he turned back to me, his smile mutating into a deadly serious frown. "Tell me, young one" he said. "Imagine you had a bunch of birds, flying around all day. They live in perfect peace, but one day they see a beautiful being with bright red fur on the ground and decide to take a break and land. Have you understood me so far?"

I was about to make a sarcastic remark, but remembered where I was and simply nodded.

"Good. Well, they land and the beautiful being turns out to be a cat, a dangerous predator. They are somewhat blinded by the beauty though, mesmerized by it, you could say. They decide to follow it, try desperately to make it notice them."

I shook my head. "No bird would be that suicidal."

"Believe me, there are more than enough" Caius snickered. Aro rolled his eyes, continuing.

"Anyway, what if I told you it was all a trick, and a foul one at that, designed by nature to make the prey easily allured into somewhat consensually finding their death?"

"I'd tell you that that does not really surprise me" I said truthfully. "Eventhough even if there were a dozen of those cats, it would not have to mean the bird's demise."

"Yes, but if you had a little bird trapped in the middle of a dozen cats, you surely understand that the logical consequence would be the death of it...?" Marcus trailed off.

I fervently shook my head. "That depends entirely on the bird."

"What do you mean?"

"If it's in shock and terrified so much that it literally can't even think about what's happening, of course it will be an easy kill, I am not denying that. But what if it defends itself? What if it tries its luck?"

"And what if I told you that it cannot defend itself?" Aro smirked.

"Yes it can" I told him, and said: "It could fly away. There are more birds than cats; if one flees, the predators will be too busy with the others to come after it, or maybe even not notice at all."

There was silence then, and I thought I had won the argument when Caius spoke up. "But a bird will always be a bird - foolish. Even if it is theoretically free, it will still not manage to run far away."

"This is not a hypothetical discussion anymore, is it?" I demanded. "I am the bird who flew away. I escaped, but I did not run far. You found me, and here I am."

Aro sighed heavily. "_Intelligente e di talento. Lei sarebbe un meraviglioso guardia_."

"_Sarebbe_." Marcus replied almost inaudibly.

Caius shifted uncomfortably in his throne. "The question is: will we allow it to escape a second time?"

Aro stared at me, lost in thought for a while, then looked up at the three vampires to my left. "Felix, get me Heidi. Go." The brawny vampire nodded, and only milliseconds later he was gone.

"Ruby" he said, a cheery tone to his voice. "It seems I have made up my mind. I am aware that you are no longer oblivious to what we are, and I propose to you what you would refer to as a 'deal'. You will leave Volterra forever, and stop looking for your sister. In return, we will allow you to leave unharmed. If you decide to forget about our conditions..." he pointed towards the pile of dead bodies behind me. "There is always room for one."

A cold shiver ran down my spine. I hated the deal, but in that very essence of a moment, it was not even the fear for my life, but the thought of the mountain of dead bodies in the corner that won over my sense of logic. With an unsure nod of my head, I agreed.

That moment, the heavy wooden door opened and Heidi and Felix entered.

"Masters" the female vampire said, bowing. "How can I be of any assistance?"

"Please take dear Ruby here out of the castle." Aro ordered. "Yes, Master" she replied, both surprised and relieved, and grabbed my wrist, dragging me out.

"Oh, and Ruby!" Caius called after me, and I could hear his smirk. "Wings are easily broken."

The door closed behind us then and I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Never in my short life had I been so glad to leave a place, ever.

"What happened?" Heidi asked curiously after about twenty meters. "Spill."

I sighed. "Not to be inpolite, but... having a near-death experience is traumatizing enough, and I am more than just glad I am even walking out of here now. I'd really prefer not to talk about it."

She nodded understandingly and we continued our walk, walking past the entrance to the gardens and the painting that had saved my life. All was silent except for the sound of my own footsteps; Heidi's were inaudible. I did not even notice Heidi's cold skin around my right arm as we made our way, I was too overjoyed to leave this castle with blood in my veins, heart beating.

"You were the first in three thousand years, you know?"

"The first of what?" I answered.

"First human to leave alive. You should be proud of yourself."

I did not know what to answer to that, but I certainly had no problems at all to believe it. The only incredible thing about this information was the fact that, at least the Masters, were three thousand years old. A clip show appeared infront of my inner eye, snapshots of Marcus, Aro and Caius killing innocent humans in all kinds of centuries and situations. I shuddered.

We reached the door I had entered through only a few seconds later. I was about to open it and run away as quickly as my legs could carry me, but Heidi held me back.

"Wait" she whispered, and I turned around. She had a small, neatly folded piece of paper in her deadly pale hand. "You can take it, if you swear to keep your side of the bargain."

I nodded energetically, hoping it was a clue to find my sister. Oh, the irony. "I swear."

She gave me a whole-hearted, friendly smile and lay it into my opened hand.

"Open it outside." Heidi sighed. "Goodbye, Ruby. It was nice to have met you, no matter the circumstances."

She embraced me, and when she pulled back, I took my chance, losing no time. I was out of the door and back on the Piazza dei Priori among the oblivious population of Volterra in fractions of seconds, unfolding the letter Heidi had presented me with while walking back to the hotel.

_Dearly beloved, _

_Do not go after me again; instead, leave as quickly as possible. Promise me this. When my husband will find out about this letter he will be livid, and I would not want for you to experience his anger. _

_I am aware that I have been a bad sister to you, but you must understand that all of it has happened for a reason. Go back into oblivion, Ruby, remember that ignorance is bliss. Do not show this letter to anyone, or speak of its content. If you are reading this you have left the castle alive; do not attempt to do the impossible twice._

_ I love you, dearest sister, and as a sign of my affection this will hopefully be the last you will hear of me. Live with the satisfaction of knowing that I am alive and well. _

_Our parents want only the best for you, Ruby. Be a good daughter to them, losing one child is hard enough. Open our mother's present, and you will understand. _

_A._

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**Translations**:

_Fratello, ricordati che questa ragazza è. Tua moglie non sarà contento se si mantiene la sua. ~ _Brother, remember who the girl is. Your wife will not be content if you keep her.

_Naturalmente. Purtroppo, la legge pretende di lei. ~ _Of course. Unfortunately, the law claims her.

_Il suo compagno non sarà così vizioso se almeno ha dato alla ragazza una possibilità. ~ _His mate will not be as vicious if he has at least given the girl a chance.

_Bene. ~_ Good.

_Intelligente e di talento. Lei sarebbe un meraviglioso guardia. ~ _Intelligent and talented. She would make for an intruiging guard.

_Sarebbe. ~ _Would_._

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**Author's Note**: So, what did you think? PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! Five reviews/three new reviewers for the next chapter! :P

Okay you guys, listen up. As you might or might not know, Wersa12345 is my best friend on here and the co-author of one of my soon-to-be published stories. She is one of the most amazing and talented people I have met on here, currently working on a Twilight fanfiction series under the name of '_The Tears We Cry_'. While my stories are relatively popular, I'm basically the only person reviewing hers. Hopefully, this will change now. I don't think I'm asking for much, just go on her profile and read, read, read and leave a review, good or bad! It will absolutely make her day, I promise. Thank you!

Oh, and on another note. If any part of my story is confusing you, please do not hesitate to PM me, I will try to help your understanding.


	9. Chapter 9: A Dreadful Reality

**Obligatory Disclaimer**: Very, very obviously, Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and I don't. There.

**Thank you so much for reviewing** _(*takes deep breath*)_: Wersa12345, Godisgood3, Diamonds and Bones, XxEmberRosexX, Daiane Dana, 2152519ismylife, Blairx6661, booklover1698, Spirit Kiss, dizprincess77. Thirty-five reviews in total! THANK YOU!

** Thank you for the new follows/favs**: charliepenn26, ChibiCheshire, Spirit Kiss, dimiksgirl123

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Chapter 9 - A Dreadful Reality

**Ruby's POV**

I read her letter again and again that night, clinging to the impossible hope that there was some message hidden between the lines that I had not noticed yet. Hours passed like seconds as I lay on one of the hard beds of Hotel Piazza, memorizing every detail of the folded piece of paper. I had even sniffed it one or two times out of desperation for information; it smelled faintly of lilacs and orchids, sweet but not too insistent.

_Go back into oblivion, Ruby, remember that ignorance is bliss. _

I chuckled sarcastically. As if that would be possible. Nobody would be able to see what I had seen inside that cursed castle and simply forget it as if it were some birthday or the shoe size of a relative. In fact, I knew that very moment that this incident would haunt me for the rest of my now miserable-again life, robbing me of sleep. And the very worst thing about it was: I would not be able to tell a soul without having to fear them coming for me. They said life held an infite amount of possibilities for me, but with only fourteen years of age I had managed to decrease that number drastically.

At this point, I had only but two choices left. I could either live on with the weight of unwanted knowledge bestowed on my petite shoulders, or die. Was it an easy choice? For life? Before all of this happened, so would it have been for me. But now...? Maybe they would grant me to see my sister one last time before they drained or decapitated or strangled me for repeatedly entering their lair. Theoretically, wasn't that all I ever wanted? To see Amber again? And I was so close, so close...

_If you are reading this you have left the castle alive; do not attempt to do the impossible twice. _

But then again, what reasons did I have for staying alive? To go home to my non-understanding, oblivious family and live a long, anxious life. To spend four more years alongside Marlena, Alexis and Louïs and somehow manage not to scream the horrid reality into their flawless faces. To never marry a man because I would either keep a terrible secret from him or, by telling him, doom him.

To live.

I looked up at the digital clock on the wall, the only source of light in the now dark hotel room. 2:47. Maybe it was too late in order for me to be in the state of mind to make such a decision, but a decision had to be made, quick. If I were to choose life, tomorrow morning would be the time to leave this city forever; otherwise, just as Amber had predicted, I would experience her mystery husband's anger - an experience that would very likely be even more cruel than I could imagine. If I were to stay, I would face my fate... To be... or not to be...

xX-Xx

_I opened my eyes, recognizing the outlines of a small, colorful yet somehow familiar room. The floor was a polished mahogany wood, littered with all sorts of thrown aside toys and books. The soft pink walls formed a perfect square, the furniture a glossy shade of white and very girly; it was the room of a spoiled little girl. Posters of princesses in glittery dresses hung everywhere, matching perfectly with the barbie dolls and pink sparkly shoes I was wearing. _

_It was then that it hit me - it was my room, or at least what it used to look like. Over the years the walls had been painted a purple greyish color, and the childish furniture removed, but I still remembered every single detail of what it had looked like on... that day. And exactly that was the reason why goosebumps were forming on every inch of my six year-old dream body: it was precisely the same. _

_The way the dresser door was throwing shadows on my bed, the way the doll my sister had sent me from Italy lay beneath my covers as if it were sleeping, the way I was wearing the pink sparkly shoes I would never wear again after the incident that would change my life for the worse. It all made sense. It was... that day. The day an unknown man's voice would tell me that Amber, my beloved sister, was as good as dead, eventhough I would never, not for one second, believe him. _

_I froze as a ringing noise disturbed my thoughts; the phone was ringing in the hallway. Amber was calling home. I had lived through this moment so many times before that every single detail had burned itself into my mind. As I walked out of my room and towards the sound, it all felt strangely familiar. I couldn't help it, no matter how hard I tried to resist, my legs kept moving me further and further away from the safety of my room. Using every ounce of willpower I had left in my body, I fought a battle I knew I could only lose when my hands reached out for the phone, which was now within reach. As usual, I lost and picked it up, slowly pulling the blue Nokia towards my ear. _

_I knew I would be the first to say something, and, knowing it was practically impossible to say anything else than the exact same thing I had said the very first time, opened my mouth to do exactly that, in the silent hope that this unwanted dream would pass quicker than the others. But, for the first in hundreds of dreams, Amber unexpectedly spoke up first. _

_"Ruby" she said quietly and urgently, "We are both dead girls." _

_I furrowed my brows, confused at her sudden statement. "What do you mean?" I asked in my high, child-like voice. _

_She sighed heavily. "There is something I must tell you..." _

_Suddenly, there was a knock on the door in the background, and I realized then that sadly, she would not come any further. _

_"Just a minute" she called out, only for the sound of the door being kicked open behind her to be heard not more than mere seconds later. _

_"Fuck" she cursed, and I flinched. "Ruby, I love you." _

_I closed my eyes, mentally preparing myself for what was to come. And sure enough, my sister's horrified scream followed instantaneously, prompting me screaming in desperation. As always, I was helpless. _

xX-Xx

I woke up from the dream then, surprised that I had been spared the most haunting part - the one containing the husky voiced man. But just as I opened my eyes and turned towards the wall clock to see how long I was locked inside my own terrifying memories, I let out a high-pitched, desperate scream.

Sitting across from me was a man with short, pitch-black hair and unnaturally high cheek bones. No, allow me to rephrase that. He had been a man once, but now his crimson irises stared back at me with a sadistic smirk. He was pale and gifted with an incredible beauty, just like Heidi and the other monsters. _Vampire_, I thought, and froze in fear. He wasn't wearing one of these black cloaks the vampires in the castle had had on, and, deciding that he would not know of the fact that I had been spared, took it as a tell-tale sign of my own demise. Truth be told, I had had more luck than reason lately, but now...

No way on Earth could a person be this lucky twice.

"W-who are you...?" I stuttered, and an amused smile formed on the hunter's thin lips.

"Since when does the prey feel the need to get acquainted to its predator?" He replied sarcastically, and my heart temporarily stopped beating. I would recognize that voice anytime. The deep husky voice... it was _him_. The vampire that had made my sister scream.

_Oh, dear god. Please, let that Caius guy have his fun with me... just make him go away..._

"Ah, there we go" he smiled. "Your heartbeat is quickening, finally a natural reaction. Tell me, young one, why, oh why is your blood so incredibly taunting...?"

"Go away" I managed to croak out. Tears started pooling in my eyes, blurring my vision.

"Feisty" he commented, that evil smile still not having vanished his lips. "I like it. A little adrenaline always makes the taste a little more exciting."

Immediately, he was next to me, holding my frail neck in between his icy cold palms. "Unfortunately, I'm too thirsty to play with my food."

"N-no!" I cried out desperately. "P-please! Not m-me! I already b-barely escaped with m-my life yesterday..."

He turned away his head in disgust. "Spare me your pathetic stories. I do not wish to hear them."

Suddenly, I was violently thrown off my bed and towards the nearest wall, one of my back bones cracking at the impact. I wailed out in pain; it was too much to handle for me. I had always had a low pain threshold.

"P-please..." I begged, thick tears rolling down my face, staining my clothes and the light carpet.

He shot me a wanting look from his place behind the bed, and shortly later I felt his freezing breath on my neck. Finally giving up, I closed my eyes and waited for life to leave me.

This was it, then; a short, miserable life ended by a slow, painful death. What had I done to deserve this? I had never lied, never stole, murdered... never had I commited any crime at all. The only spontaneous decision in my life was this journey... but was I really to blame for wanting to find my sister? Maybe there was no God. Maybe all there was was injustice and pain, with short, fulfilling moments, which I had never experienced. Hopefully death would be peaceful.

That second, the top of his teeth met my skin, and I could not help but picture a piece of silk cut with a sharp knife as he gradually increased the pressure on the barrier between his mouth and my blood. At this point, I could only pray that he would do what he had to do quickly and painlessly. It was all I was asking for.

Yet, not even God seemed to be on my side.

The vampire closed his eyes in obvious pleasure, smiling as he took a deep breath of my scent. "I have never smelled anything as good as this, young one... it is almost as if your blood were ambrosia to me." He sighed sadly, grasping my arms with his, ensuring I would not escape.

"I love you Amber" I whispered, my voice almost impossible to understand through the heavy sobs that were burying me alive. I closed my eyes one last time, waiting patiently for him to take my life.

Black.

Nothing but empty blackness, wrapping its slender arms around me.

But it did not come.

Confused, I opened them again. Why was I still alive? Why had he not drained me?

The man was sitting next to me, offering me an almost... kind smile. His eyes were pitch black.

"Why am I not dead?" I asked, hoping for an explanation. No answer came, he merely stared at me in silence. I looked away, studying the wall clock and counting the seconds.

"Of course" he said after a while. "That is why you looked so familiar."

"What do you mean? Why am I not dead?" I repeated my question.

"Is Amber your sister?" He demanded impatiently.

I nodded quietly. "Do you know her?"

"Were you, by any chance... inside the castle?" he replied, completely ignoring my question.

"I was" I answered truthfully, not even bothering to lie. "I lost the tour group, and when they found me I was brought to this throne room. Aro allowed me to leave if I were to never speak of what happened in the castle again." Sighing, I added: "But what does it matter now. Either you are going to kill me, or Aro will, for breaking our deal by telling you."

Giving me possibly the most evil smirk I had ever seen, he replied: "Let us see how long we can postpone his anger then, shall we?"

All went black.

* * *

_Because I could not stop for Death,  
He kindly stopped for me;  
The carriage held but just ourselves  
And Immortality._

_~ Emily Dickinson_

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**Author's Note**: Okay, I really do apologize for the short chapter and late update. I actually thought I'd have more free time to use for this, but... turns out I didn't, so yeah. I feel kind of bad for the short chapter (it's only 2100 words...), but here it is anyway, so I sincerely hope you enjoyed it and keep up the reviews! :P

Oh, and for a dedication in the next chapter! Who do you think the vampire with the husk voice is? (Hint: if you've read TSoAB, you'll know.)

This chapter is dedicated to dizprincess77 for always reviewing my work. Thank you!

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Please...


	10. Chapter 10: Realization

**Disclaimer**: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer, not me. Surprise surprise.

**Thank you so much for reviewing**: booklover1698, dizprincess77, Wersa12345, Trich, Godisgood3, Guest

**Thanks for the new follows/favs**: Trich

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_Warning! I will not repeat this... Do not read if strongly Pro-Cullen. Or do, you have been warned either way._

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Chapter 10 - Realization

**Ruby's POV **

My eyes slowly opened, lifting the veil of darkness which had spread over me. I felt dizzy. As more and more light made its way towards my retina, I made out the silhouettes of people staring down at me and hastily tilted my head to the left, not wanting to look whoever these strangers were in the eyes. Where was I, anyway? I vaguely remembered sprinting out of the castle and into the hotel room to analyze my sister's letter, and then it all came back to me. The vampire. Husky voice. Thirst. Being thrown against the bedroom wall. Last words. Sudden interest. Blackness.

I felt my heartbeat quicken. Hadn't I so willingly given myself to death, twice even, in his presence? What was it about me, the stupid little teenager, that made both the living and death turn away from me, but the undead so incredibly interested in preserving my existence?

A smooth, kind male voice pulled me from my thoughts and back to the polished wooden floor, where I was currently lying and trying to maintain the impression that I was still unconscious. "What should we tell her when she wakes up?" it asked.

An arrogant female voice answered. "We tell her the truth, of course. We've basically obliterated her chances of a normal life, we might as well just tell her why."

Who were these people? Considering that a vampire had brought me here, they must be vampires, too. I felt my heartbeat quicken, and desperately tried to calm myself. Who knew if they could hear it, they were vampires after all, I would not take any unnessecary risks.

"Vladimir has been a fool in bringing her here" another male voice with a slight spanish accent sighed. "When Aro finds out, he will be livid. If he has really spared her, be sure that he will have our heads for this. We should take her back to her home town before she gains consciousness and pray that he will leave us in peace if he finds out."

_Vladimir_.

So that was the name of the vampire that had haunted my dreams.

As if on cue, said vampire gave out an amused chuckle. "My dear Eleazar, you fail to see the big picture. You are right, we do give Aro a good reason to terminate us by keeping the girl, but just think of the possibilities. Since our goal is to protect another human, we could make a trade with the Volturi. One human for another."

"The _other human_ has a name, you know" an unnerved, not quite as beautiful as the others female voice interrupted. "And it's Bella."

I disliked her instantly.

"Bella, calm down, sweetheart" a calming, teenage male soothed her. "All of these people are here to protect you from our enemies. I think you should be a little more grateful."

Wait... so Vladimir only kidnapped me save this incredibly obnoxious Bella girl? I could not keep my heartbeat down any longer. It was neither fear, nor angst that pulsed through my veins now, but anger. How dare they wanted to trade my life in for hers! And what on Earth was this 'Volturi' anyway?

"Carlisle, I think the human has gained consciousness" Vladimir stated, and I mentally cursed myself. Way to go for self control, Ruby.

I opened my eyes. Giving me a warm smile, a vampire with short golden hair and strange irises the color of my sister's name stared down at me, holding out a hand to me. "Hello, young one. My name is Carlisle Cullen. What is your name?"

I took his hand and stood up, wailing as a sharp pain shot through my back. "Ruby" I croaked out before turning towards my kidnapper. "Was it really necessary to throw me into a wall?"

He shrugged. "I guess I just like to play with my food."

Carlisle shot him a punishing look, then continued his little speech of welcome. "Welcome to our home, Ruby. I am aware you must have many questions, so fire away."

I sighed. "Well, where am I, for starters?"

"Naselle, Washington" the arrogant voice, who obtained long, seemingly flowing blond hair and such immense beauty that every last ounce of my self-confidence turned to ash at her sight. "We moved here from Forks, Washington a few months ago."

"This is my adoptive daughter, Rosalie" Carlisle introduced me. "And these are my other adoptive children, Emmett, Alice, Jasper, Edward and Bella." He said, pointing to four other vampires with golden eyes and a very obviously human woman, who gave me a look of pure apathy. She had long, brown hair and caramel eyes. This Bella girl must have been twenty-something, but she acted like a teenager.

Says the fourteen year-old. Man, when did I turn into a hypocrite?

"Pleasure to meet you all" I replied sarcastically and turned back to Carlisle. "Why do you have amber irises? The vampires in Italy and Vladimir here both have crimson ones."

"You know of our kind?" Carlisle demanded uncertainly. I nodded. "Back in Volterra, a tourist was drained infront of my eyes. Later in the throne room, Caius pointed at a point behind me at the back of the room once, and I turned to see what it was. Turned out it was a gigantic pile of bloodless corpses. Wasn't that hard to piece the pieces together then."

The man with the spanish accent, who had short black hair, shook his head in disbelief. "Aro has pardoned her eventhough she knows of our kind. He must have had a very good reason to do so. This girl will be our demise."

I sighed. "Could you please answer my question?" I asked Carlisle, hoping to change the topic.

He nodded absentmindedly. "Of course, Ruby. It is quite simple. Vampires who feed on humans have crimson eyes, while those who feed on animals have amber ones. My family and I feed on animals, so do our relatives from Alaska, like Eleazar here" he pointed to the vampire with the short black hair. "And his family, the Denalis, which you will meet later. From our small group, Vladimir is the only one who feeds on humans, but you have nothing to fear from him. Understand that your blood... sings to him, but a fight with his enemies has priority over blood to him."

I remembered how he had told me how taunting my blood was to him and shuddered.

"So why am I here, then?" I asked, coming to the point.

"Let me tell her, please!" Bella begged Carlisle. "Just us two humans."

Seriously? They were getting into a fight because of _her_? Hardly understandable.

Carlisle nodded in agreement. "What a good idea, Bella. Go to her room, I gather a little privacy would be most helpful. Call for me if you need anything."

Bella smirked, taking my hand and dragging me away from the vampires, towards a modern, white staircase. I didn't complain. I hated the way she acted like I was her pet, but at least it wasn't Heidi who was dragging me around. I was grateful, so I kept quiet.

I hadn't had much time to inspect the interior of the house earlier for obvious reasons, but now I had all the time in the world. The house was very modern, with entire walls of glass except of simple windows. Its furniture was mostly white and black paired with either light blue, greyish purple or hunter green and was assembled in a minimalistic kind of way. All the floors and some of the walls were a light wood. All in all, the pettiness with which it was decorated reminded me of my home in Kingsbridge hundreds of miles away, and with it of my mother.

No, I could not think of her. Instead of flying home to her, I had flown to Italy and had almost been killed by vampires the same day. And to top that off, the very next day here I was, held captive by animal eating vampires in some small town in Washington, USA. I could not imagine the worry that must have taken possession of her. Police were probably searching for me in every corner of the United Kingdom by now, not that it would help much. I would very likely never return home, it would be just like with Amber all over again. And I had not even opened her present, not even told her I loved her before leaving her forever without knowing it. True, she along with my father completely misunderstood me and we never got along, but they were my parents after all. And deep down, I felt the tiniest bit of love for them covered by the piles of contempt that had formed over the years.

We had reached the second floor by now, and Bella stopped infront of the only closed door in the entire building. Signalling me to open it and enter, I grabbed the golden door handle and pulled it down.

I had always hated gold.

Inside was a small, purely white and cream room with a glass wall across from its door. There was no bed; instead there was a fifties style white leather sofa with a variety of cream pillows meticulously assembled in ten centimeter distances from each other on the right side of the room. On the left, there was a glossy white piano with a Caspar David Friedrich painting hanging over it. The other wall, into which the door was worked in, was completely covered in a light wooden book case.

I had always hated Friedrich.

"Do you play?" Bella asked politely as we entered, pointing at the piano.

I shook my head. "I never played an instrument. I always preferred reading."

She smiled. "I guess you're in the right room then. Let's sit down, shall we?"

I simply nodded and sat down. The sofa was far from comfortable; I could only imagine trying to sleep on this thing.

"Sorry there is no bed by the way" she quickly apologized, noticing my dismay. "We usually use the room as a piano room. We don't normally have guests that need to sleep, and it was the only vacant room."

"It's fine" I waved her off, deciding not to mention that she had just referred to me as a 'guest' and what a strange wording that was, considering I had been kidnapped, and silence formed around us. Just perfect. The last thing I needed now was awkward silence.

"So why am I being held captive here?" I asked after some thirty seconds, growing more impatient by the second.

"It's a long story" Bella said. No shit, sherlock.

"I'd like to here it anyway."

"You know Edward and I are a couple, right?"

Who was Edward again? "Yes."

"Good. We met in Forks just about eight years ago, in 2006. I was seventeen back then. On my eighteenth birthday party, I got a paper cut while opening my presents and his brother Jasper attacked me. Two days later, Edward broke up with me because he wanted to keep me safe and the entire Cullen family moved away. I was a shell of a person for about six months, then I met Jacob, who used to be my friend when we were kids. Turned out he was a shape-shifter who turned into a wolf. But that's beside the point." It sure was. "Anyways, one day Alice was there when I came home. I'd been cliff-diving that day and I'd almost drowned if Jacob hadn't saved me. Alice can see the future by the way. She thought I died because she hadn't seen me being saved. Edward found out, and he departed to Volterra."

"What does this have to do with Volterra?" I asked, suddenly interested.

"The coven of vampires you met in Volterra, they call themselves the Volturi. You could call them the monarchy of vampires - they rule over the race." Bella sighed. "And they have laws. Well, one most important one. It's that no human can know of the existence of vampires without being killed or turned. Which is why everyone is so surprised they let you out alive, by the way. But let me get on with the story. Edward thought I was dead and wanted to expose our kind somehow so that they'd kill him. Vampires can't commit suicide."

"Can vampires kill each other, then?"

Bella smiled. "Well, aren't you curious. Yes they can, they must tear their opponent apart and then set the limbs on fire so they won't reconnect. You're gonna see that first hand in a few days time, though."

"What do you mean?" I demanded.

"All in due time, Ruby. Where was I? Ah, yes. Italy. Anyway, of course Alice and I got on a plane to Volterra and saved Edward before it was too late. Only that Aro found out Alice and I had arrived, too, and wanted to meet us in person." She shuddered. "We walked into the throne room shortly after. All was well, except that I was obviously a human who knew too much. I was lucky, though, just like you. They let me go because the Cullens promised to turn me."

"But they didn't." I said. "And you've been human for six years too long in their eyes now."

She nodded, and I saw the tears pool in her eyes. Taking a deep breath, Bella continued quietly, as if she were uncomfortable with the way things had turned out. "They visited at least twice a year, making sure I had lost my mortality. But Edward refused to turn me, he didn't want to turn me into a 'monster'. He thought I'd lose my soul."

First he breaks the law, then he makes the Volturi find out, and then, when they have pardoned his girlfriend for the moment, he won't do what they ordered him to do... which inevitably would lead to Bella losing her life. Stupid Edward.

"By the third time they visited and I still wasn't turned, they got aggressive and found out about Eddie's plans of keeping me human. So one week later, two of their best fighters and another came to Forks with the goal to terminate me; we had had our chance, they said. Not that I blame them really..."

"What happened?"

"Remember the Denalis Carlisle talked about downstairs? They used to live in Alaska before Edward got them to permanently move in with us so they could protect me if the Volturi decided to kill me." With a grave voice, she added: "And so they did, the day before they came for me. Of course, three were powerless against seven Cullens and five Denalis. One of them died, Jasper decapitated him. I think his name was Santiago... or something like that. Anyways, the Volturi haven't shown us a hint of mercy since then. They create vampires for the sole purpose of fighting against us, and they come without warning every once in a while. There were always only few, though, so we always won." She sighed. "Vladimir is about as old as the Volturi leaders, three thousand plus. He used to be part of the Romanians, the coven that ruled before the Volturi. He's been waiting for a chance to pay them back since millennia, so when he heard about our situation he moved in without asking."

Everything clicked then, the entire dreadful reality spreading out in my mind.

"Of course!" I exclaimed. "Amber went missing in Volterra eight years ago. She probably joined the Volturi for some reason, but before she was turned she called home to tell us some story. I got a call from her that night. She didn't even start explaining before I heard her scream and Vladimir's voice telling me she was as good as dead." It all made sense now. "Now, eight years later, Vladimir found me. He was about to kill me, but I mentioned my sister's name and then he understood that I was her sister, probably because of the physical resemblance, too. And he brought me back here."

"Yes" Bella nodded sadly. "Amber is... in a close relationship with Aro, if I can put it that way. He was hoping if he brought you to the battle field, he could..." she stopped abruptly. Tears ran down her cheeks.

"Ruby, I'm so sorry..." she cried, not completing her sentence. I did not need her to, anyway. I had figured out the dreadful end of that sentence by myself.

..._exchange your life for mine_.

I was fighting the tears. Had he ever even met the Volturi? They would never make a deal with lawbreakers, I just knew it. Hopefully, Amber would fight for me, but what good would it do?

I was a lamb about to be slaughtered. It was dreadful, yet inevitable.

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_ I know what I've been told has left me standing cold._

_ I won't freeze up, I've got my chin up, no I won't fall._

~ Blitzkids mvt., "Cold"

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_For dizprincess77, yet again, for being the first user to guess who the intruder was, and my dear friend Wersa12345, who couldn't wait to get this... here you go. *smiles*_

_I know this was very unexpected, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. In case you're wondering, yes, this is going to be the main plot of this story now. So if you've got very attached to the Cullens... ahem... this might not be the story for you._

_Please review! Reviews are like catalysts to speed up the update! (Sorry for the chemistry wordplay)_


	11. Chapter 11: Masks of Innocence

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. I'm not making any financial gain from this, either.

**Thank you so much for reviewing**: dizprincess77, Godisgood3, Wersa12345, Trich, Spirit Kiss

**Thank you for the new follows/favs**: moonlightjasmine, elizabeth . ying .1, taylorgrimsley.14

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Chapter 11 - Masks of Innocence

** Ruby's POV **

_My life for Bella's._

It rang through my head like a mantra, again and again, mercilessly shouting the dreadful truth at me. I tried to ignore it at first, but in vain. And after a while, I stopped trying entirely. Of what use would it be to ignore it, anyway? It was the truth, nothing but the truth. It would be cowardice to act like it wasn't happening, and, I realized that very moment, bravery was the only thing that would help me maintain my level of sanity. I wiped the tears away with the fabric of my dark green sweatshirt, took a deep breath and closed my eyes in silence. It was ironic; all of my life, all I had wanted was company - now that I had it, I detested it.

"Ruby?" Bella asked in a concerned tone after a while, still sobbing. "Are you alright?"

I did not answered her.

Sighing, she tried again. "Ruby, please, I know this is hard for you, it is for all of us... please, talk to me."

But I had stayed silent, internally chuckling at the fact that it was hard for _them_ and that she had included me in the 'all of us'. Bella left after a few more minutes of silence, slamming the door behind her. I had not been able to hide my amusement. I was to be traded in or killed like a piece of meat in a matter of a few days, and _she_ thought she had a hard life?

Hardly.

The hours passed slowly as I sat on the stylish yet highly uncomfortable couch, changing my position every once in a while. Carlisle knocked on my door at some point, offering me food and company, but I gladly refused. In the room, it was just me and my thoughts; I was grateful for that. I could not comprehend why he thought I would feel the desire to talk to him or any of his pathetic excuse for a 'family', anyway. He had not kidnapped me personally, but he had not wanted to take me back to my family, either. It made him no better than Vladimir himself in my opinion.

I opened my eyes, a strange experience after sitting through countless hours of pure black. It was night outside, the wide forest landscape outside of the glass wall covered by a thick layer of darkness. My eyelids were heavy, but I felt no desire at all to sleep. As if to prove my own point to myself, I stood up from the white leather sofa and sat myself on the even more uncomfortable light wooden floor, staring out of the window apathetically. Somewhere out there, I told myself, both my mother and my sister were standing infront of a window, too, a hopeful smile lighting up their faces at the thought that somewhere, beyond the horizon, I was as miserable as them.

For what seemed like the one thousandth time that day, I cursed myself for taking that faithful trip to Volterra. I regretted treating my mother like I had during our last meeting. I hated myself for putting my parents in a situation as hopeless and terrible as this. I damned myself for never opening my mother's present.

Yet at the same time, a wave of self-pity rolled over me. It was an odd and most certainly unpleasant combination. Because, as much as I had played a significant part in changing my parent's life for the worse, I was now at the mercy of an entire dozen of dangerous supernatural creatures who were oh-so-blasé to the fact that they had shortened my life expectancy to another one or two weeks. I saw right through the masks of politeness and friendliness they had transformed their pale faces into, right into the dark inside. Now that I was still with them, they would surely play the role of the innocent bystanders that were only pulled into this situation by Vladimir, who somehow obtained a bad relationship to the Volturi, as if that were enough of an explanation.

Complete bullocks, of course.

Bella herself had told me that Vladimir only just joined them a short amount of time ago, and I hardly believed that such a newcomer would possess enough power to force eleven other vampires into respecting his decisions, and his alone. I had overheard their conversation; they could have brought me back to Kingsbridge, yet they hadn't. I was much too valuable to them for that. Secretly, they admired Vladimir for taking me here, I knew, but they did not have the bravery to admit it. And acting like it wasn't their fault infront of me instead of pleading their case was just so much more convenient.

Myself, I wouldn't be fooled by it. The second the battle commenced, they would drop their masks and mercilessly kill me if necessity presented itself, I was sure of it. It made me wonder which of the two sides I was on; the Cullens or the Volturi?

The ones that normally wouldn't dream of harming me but were now taking all possibilities from me, or the ones that normally would harm me without second thought yet had spared me to allow me to lead a normal life?

I honestly didn't know anymore.

**Alec's POV**

I was in my chambers, working on one of my plays and listening to classical music. It was noon outside, and I had opened my window to let in some of the warm summer breeze. My skin sparkled faintly, casting prismatic rays of light all across the desk and the walls. It was quiet, peaceful.

All of a sudden, that peace was disturbed as the door to my room was thrown open and I turned around. Standing in the doorway, dressed in a long-sleeved black velvet dress and raven Mary-Janes, was my sister.

"Jane!" I exclaimed joyously. "I thought you were spending the day with the Mistress and Heidi. Have you changed your plans for some quality time with your good old brother?"

She rolled her eyes in return. "You're only older by a couple of minutes, Alec. And no, I haven't changed my plans. Amber simply requests your presence in her study, that's all."

Puzzled, I stood up. "Why would the Mistress request my presence?"

"I don't know. And the Mistress has a name, you know." Jane replied. "Which she immensely prefers to her official title."

I shrugged. "Let's go, then."

We left and ran in utter silence, following the dark maze-like corridors towards the wing of the Masters and their wives. We stopped infront of a small wooden door next to Master Aro's chambers after several seconds, and Jane gave me a knowing, honest smile before speeding off as quickly as she had come. Taking a deep breath, I shyly knocked on the door.

"Come in" a voice soft as silk answered and I entered the study.

Inside, the young Mistress was standing infront of a wide mahogany desk which was circled by dark bookcases. Her face lit up as she saw me.

"Alec!" she said and embraced me. "How was your mission to Russia?"

"Most satisfactory, my lady" I replied politely. "Although I doubt you have called me here for small talk."

"You are indeed right" she told me. "And I have summoned you here to give you a piece of information that will very likely change not only yours, but all of our lifes."

"What is it, Mistress?" I asked anxiously.

"It seems" she began, but struggled to find the right words. I decided to look away to lessen her embarassment and stared out of the window into the wide Italian countryside. "It seems, my dear Alec, that your mate has been found."

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_I am terribly sorry that this is so short! I am aware that this was just a filler chapter, but I hope it was okay anyway. I planned this story out the other day, and the chapter just had to be written... even I did not really know what to put in. But, on the plus side, Alec and Amber were inside! :P _

_Next chapter will be a blast, I promise! *sadistic smile* So, please review! Even if you didn't like it, your opinion matters._


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